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SCHOOL  FOB  BLIND  SOLDIERS. 

— , 

Otto  H.  Kahn  Gives  His  Residence  in 
London. 

Otto  H.  Kahn,  the  American  banker,  haj 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  a  committee  ap 
pointed  to  care  for  and  educate  soldieri 
and  sailors  who  have  been  made  blind  v 
the  war,  his  London  residence,  St  Dun 
stan's  lodge,  Regent's  park,  which  has  1 
acres  of  grounds.  The  committee  whic 
is  under  the  chairmanship  of  C.  Arthu 
Pearson,  honorary  treasurer  of  the  nation* 
institute  for  the  blind,  who  himself  is  blin( 
has  raised  a  fund  to  "teach  the  blind  t 
be  blind."  The  men  are  being  taught  t 
read  and  write  and  are  being  instructed  i 
typewriting,  farming  and  other  useful  o( 
cupations  besides  learning  sports  an 
games. 


Bosto 


W 


m 


i/b^. 


\3>Lo 


b«^- 


Fe/b 


f  utXr 


U-.     i-f!5. 


1 

TO  EDUCATE  WAR'S  BLIND. 

Otto  H.  Kahn  Puts  His  Residence 
in  London  at  Disposal  of  Com- 
mittee for  Work 

LONDON,  Feb  13— Otto  H.  Kahn,  the 
American  banker,  has  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  committee  appointed  to  care 
for  and  educate  soldiers  and  sailors  who 
have  been  made  blind  in  the  war,  his 
London  residence,  St  Dunstan's  Lodge, 
Regent's  Park,  which  has  14  acres  of 
grounds. 

The  committee,  which  is  under  the 
chairmanship  of  C.  Arthur  Pearson, 
honorary  treasurer  of  the  National  In? 
stitute  for  the  Blind,  who,  himself  is 
blind,  has  raised  a  fund  to  "teach  the 
blind  to  be  blind." 

The  men  are  being  taught  to  read  and 
write  and  are  being  instructed  in  type- 
writing, farming-  ana  other  useful  oc- 
cupations, besides  learning  sports  and 
games. 


TL^xaJ    Ho^yQ,   ~Y\s.   ^t>    Ulyw^wc/^yv 


Fcb-r 


u,a,ir^     i  m->    '115. 


Kahn  Gives  London 
sion  to  War  Blind 


Jondon,  Feb.  13. — Otto  H.  Kahn,  the 
American  banker,  has  placed  at  the 
<Uspoal  of  a  committee  appointed 
to  care  for  and  educate  soldiers  and 
sailors  made  blind  In  the  war  his 
London  residence,  St.  Dunstan's 
Lodge,  Regent's  Park,  which  has 
fourteen    acres    of    grounds. 


Wxmstxxtft 


THURSDAY,  MARCH  25,  1915 


GENERAL  FEVER  ATTACKS  AUSTRIA 

Typhoid  Will  Sweep  Through  the 
Country  Like  a  Prairie  Fire,  Says 
American   Relief  Head 

New  York,  March  25 — Typhoid,  smallpox 
and  other  contagious  diseases  are  epidemic 
under  the  Austrian  flag,  according  to  Dr. 
Charles  McDonald  of  Washington,  head  of 
the  American  War  Relief  Hospital  estab- 
lished in  Budapest,  who  reached  this  port 
today  aboard  the  steamer  America  from 
Italian    ports. 

"When  nvarmer  weather  comes  I  believe 
the  typhoid  will  sweep  through  the  Aus- 
trian army  like  a  prairie  fire,'  Dr.  McDon- 
ald   said. 

Dr,  McDonald  asserted  that  he  had  seen 
wounded  men  come  into  Budapest  who  had 
been  four  days  without  water  or  medical 
attention.  As  many  as  70,000  wounded 
hat:   been  in   Budapest  at  one  time,  he  said. 

With  three  doctors  and  fifteen  nurses 
who  sailed  on  the  steamer  eRd  Cross  from 
this  port  last  September,  Dr.  McDonald 
established,  in  the  Jewish  Blind  Asylum 
the  American  hospital  at  Budapest.  He 
unfurled  an  immense  American  flag  in 
front  of  the  building,  he  said,  when  the 
hospital  was  established.  Baron  Armin 
Popper,  who  had  been  assigned  by  the 
Austrian   Government   to  assist  him,  issued 


orders  that  the  American  flag-  was  to  be 
respected  above  every  thing  ..else,  and  this 
order,   Dr.    McDonald    said,    was    obeyed. 


The  Dying 

Leading  the  Blind 

in  Cloualand 

An   Observer   Mortally   Wounded   Enables 

His  Pilot  Whose  Sight  Is  Destroyed 

to  Make  Safe  Landing 

Paris,    March    11. 

ONE  of  the  most  dramatic  incidents 
of  the  w*.r,  which  occurred  when 
the  fighting-  in  Flanders  was  at 
its  height,  is  now  related.  A  lieutenant 
observer  with  a  sergeant  as  pilot  was 
ordered  to  locate  a  German  concealed 
battery  whose  fire  had  become  extremely 
troublesome.  They  succeeded  in  locat- 
ing three  batteries,  although  greeted  by 
a  perfect  storm  of  shell,  and  then  the 
lieutenant  shouted:  "Our  mission  is 
finished.     Half  turn,  and  quick  about  it!" 

"You  bet  I  was  not  long  in  turning/' 
said  the  pilot  in  telling  the  story.  "But 
we  had  scarcely  gone  500  yards  when 
the  rain  of  shot  and  shell  began  harder 
than  ever.  The  smoke  enshrouded  us  so 
thickly  that  it  was  impossible  to  see 
twenty  yards  ahead.  Out  of  this  hell 
we  were  endeavoring  to  rise  when  one 
shell  better  directed  than  the  others 
burst  just  above  our  heads  with  a  ter- 
rific  crash. 

"For  a  moment  I  believed  my  brain 
had  burst.  Then  the  dense  fog  shut  all 
the  surrounding  objects  from  view. 
Despite  my  pain,  I  kept  the  machine  at 
the  same  height  in  order  to  avoid  pro- 
jectiles, ,which  were  becoming  scarcer. 
'Are  you  all  right,  lieutenant?'  I  shout- 
ed, but  received  no  reply.  Then,  open- 
ing my  eyes,  I  saw  nothing-  but  black- 
ness all  round  me. 

"I  continued  in  the  same  direction  ap- 
proximately for  two  minutes,  when,  to 
my  astonishment,  the  lieutenant  called 
out,  'Look  out,  man.  Go  up!  Go  up!' 
Quickly  I  twisted,  raising-  the  plane  so 
quickly  that  the  machine  shot  up,  at  the 
same  time  tearing  away  the  weather 
vane  from  a  steeple  on  which  the  ma- 
chine    had     just     escaped     destruction. 


"  'I  thank  you,  litutenant,'  I  said, 
'you  must  excuse  me,  but  I  cannot  see. 
But    you   are    wounded?' 

"  'Yes,'  he  answered.  'I  fear  seri- 
ously.' Then,  seeing  I  was  turning  my 
back  on  our  lines,  he  said,  'Make  a  half 
turn  to  the  left.  More  to  the  left  still. 
That's    right.      Straight    ahead    now!' 

"Soon  a  fresh  hail  of  bullets  warned 
me  that  we  were  again  above  the  Ger- 
man lines.  Three  minutes  later  the 
voice  of  the  observer  called,  'That's  it. 
Here  we  are.  I  see  our  men  down  there 
waiting  for  us.  Shut  off  the  spark  and 
volplane  gently  down.'  I  heard  no  more, 
but  soon  after,  at  the  end  of  a  spiral, 
our  landing  wheels  grated  on  the 
ground." 

There  was  a  murmur  among  the  by- 
standers, who  saw  the  pilot  blind  forever 
and  the  body  of  the  lieutenant,  who  had 
just  breathed  his  last.  But  the  pilot  said, 
"All  I  regret  is  that  I  cannot  do  it  again." 


Tie*/    :;W, ,      .  ■--.    is 


uw\ 


CftUNTESSES  SOUGHT 
RUN  HIS  HOSPITAL 


lr.    MacDonald    Says    He    De- 
clined Services  of  Former 
Miss  Vanderbilt. 


PREFERREDTRAINED  NURSES 


Red    Cross    Surgeon     Declares    Bad 

Sanitary  Conditions  in   Hungary 

Will  Result  in  Epidemic. 


Dr.  Charles  MacDonald,  United  States 
Army  Surgeon,  who  has  been  in  charge 
of  the  American  Red  Cross  Hospital, 
at    Budapest   for   five   months   returned 


yesterday  on  the  Italian  steamship 
America  with  some  interesting  details 
of  the  conditions  at  the  Hungarian  capi- 
tal. He  left  New  York  last  September 
on  the  Red  Cross  in  command  of 
Unit  "  E  "  which  consisted  of  three 
surgeons  and  fifteen  trained  nurses. 
On  arrival  at  Budapest  Dr.  MacDonald 
said  that  the  Jewish  ra^nd  Asylum  was 
turned  over  to  him  by  tne""WWHH!^8 
be  converted  into  a  Red  Cross  hospital. 

Directly  it  was  opened  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  wounded  soldiers,  the 
Countess  Szechenyi,  who  was  Miss 
Gladys  Vanderbilt,  the  Countess  Sigray, 
a  daughter  of  the  late  Marcus  Daly, 
and  the  Countess  Zichy,  who  was  Miss 
Mabel  Wright  of  Boston,  came  to  the 
hospital  and  wanted  to  take  charge  oi 
things,  but  their  services  were  declined 
by  Dr.   MacDonald. 

"  I  explained  to  the  Countess,"  he 
said,  ,;  that  there  was  no  room  there 
for  women  to  walk  about  the  wards 
in  kid  gloves,  as  the  only  women  needed 
were  thoroughly  trained  nurses.  One 
of  the  Hungarian  newspapers  printed  a 
statement  that  the  Unit  E  of  the  Ameri- 
can Red  Cross  had  been  equipped  at 
the  expense  of  the  Countess  Szechenyi. 
I  sent  for  reporters  and  explained  to 
them  that  the  American  Red  Cross  was 
supported  by  voluntary  contributions  do- 
nated by  Americans  of  all  ranks  from 
the  working  man,  with  his  dinner  pail, 
up.  Then  I  procured  an  American  flag 
thirty  feet  long  and  eleven  feet  wide, 
which  was  placed  along  the  front  of 
the  hospital.  This  aroused  a  little  dissat- 
isfaction in  certain  quarters  in  Budapest 
and  I  was  asked  what  right  I  had  to 
put  the  flag  up.  My  reply  was  that 
It  was  done  to  show  the  public  that  it 
T?s  an  American  hospital.  Afterward 
Armin  Popper,  the  military  com- 
mandant of  the  hospital,  had  a  pole 
planted  m  the  ground  outside  on  which 
to   hoist  the   flag." 

Dr.  MacDonald  said  further  that  the 
sanitary  conditions  in  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  armies  were  about  the  same 
as  those  which  existed  in  the  United 
States  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish- 
American  war  in  1808.  There  were  no 
fly  screens  anywhere  and  no  attempt  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  contagious 
diseases. 

"  When  the  warm  weather  starts, 
typhoid,  cholera,  and  oilier  diseases 
will  spread  through  Austria  with  the 
rapidity  of  a  prairie  fire.  Trainloads 
of  wounded  men  arrived  in  Budapest 
who  had  been  four  days  on  the  road 
without  treatment  or  water.  As  many 
as  70,000  came  in  at  one  time.  It  was 
wonderful  to  see  how  the  surgeons 
patched  up  the  soldiers  in  the  hospital, 
some  of  whom  had  portions  of  their 
bodies  torn  away  by  the  terrible  hail 
of  shrapnel." 

Dr  MacDonald  was  decorated  with 
a  medal  by  the  Emperor  Franz  Josef 
at  Vienna  before  leaving  for  disting- 
uished services.  He  had  previous  ex- 
perience   with    the    army    in    the    Philip-^ 


pines   and    Porto   Rico.     After   spendin 
a  few  days  in  New  York  the  doctor  sa 
he    would    go    to    Washington    to    ma 

hio     ronnvt     to    the    "*" 


lin;* 
?ai# 

a* 


"V 


- 


U 


^  <- 


£/ir^    ^ 


lb  . 


S/iVzrf  Children  of  Belgium 
-  ,4/ded  by  Afflicted  Here 


Little  Ones  at  Lighthouse  of  New  York  Association  Send 
Contribution  To  Be  Taken  Aboard  the  Argosy- 
of  Sightless  Amid  War  Stirs  Compassion. 


■Plight 


"What  has  become  of  the  blind  men  and 
en  ancPlittle  children  of  Belgium?'.! 

The  question  was  asked  of  Miss  Wini- 
fred Holt,  secretary  of  the  New  York 
iation  for  the  Bl^y^  as  she  sh  t  al 
:  .ighthouse,  at  No,  i1 1 
Fifty-ninth  street,  Nejv  Fork  city.  M1ss 
Holt  recently  returned  from  England, 
where  she  v.  out  in  the  interest  of  blind 
refugees. 

"J  cannot  toll  where  the  blind  of  Bel- 
gium are— because  I  do  not  know— nobody 
knows.  The  remnants  of  them  must  be 
somewhere  with  the  other  starving,  help- 
less ones,  but  many  of  them'' 

After  a  pause,  she  continued: — 

"You  see,  when  Belgium  heeame  the  hot- 
bed of  war  and  the  cities  were  bombarded, 
the  sightless  ones  were  entirely  dependent 
upon  others  to  guide  them  to  safety.,  and 
I  can  never  think  of  conditions  there 
among  the  blind  without  a  shudder. 
When  the  besieged  cities  fell,  not  only 
were  the  institutions  for  the  blind  opened, 
bjt  the  prisons  and  insane  asylums  as  well 
poured  forth  their  surging  masses  among 
the  refugees. 

'"In  tin-  flight  flor  places  of  comparative 
safety  what  chance  would  a  blind  woman 
or  child  or  even  a  blind  man  have?  The 
^thought  of  our  helpless  blind  friends  amid 


such  a  scene  and  in  such  a  wild  commo- 
tion produce©  feelings  that  cannot  he 
shaped  into  wot 

Blin<!    Woman    Escapes* 

''When  l  was  in  England  a  short  time 
ago  J  found  a  blind  woman  who  had 
escaped  with  her  little  daughter  from  the 
ruins  of  Termonde.  Her  home  had  been 
destroyed  and  her  husband  separated  from 
her.  She  arrived  in  England  penniless  and 
panic  stricken,  unable  to  speak  the 
language. '  Through  friends  her  husband 
was  found  and  she  is  now  living-  with  him 
and  the  'ittle  girl  in  a  comfortable  cot- 
tage in  Xorthern  England. 

"Another  case  that  came  to  my  atten- 
tion wat=  that  of  a  blind  girl  living  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Brussels,  who  became 
separated  from  her  family  when  her  prop- 
erty was  destroyed.  She  finally  landed  in 
England  accompanied  by  an  acquaintance 
and  is  now  happily  provided  for  through 
the  honorary  secretary  of  the  Union  of 
Unions  Blind. 

"A  third  case  is  that  of  a  blind  Ameri- 
can accompanied  by  his  wife,  a  refuge* 
from  Brussels,  where  he  had  lived  for  a 
long-  time.  He  was  sent  by  way  of  Eng- 
land to  the  Lighthouse  here  in  Nevs 
York.  His  wife  has  joined  our  staff,  and 
he  is  busily  occupied  with  a  handicraft 
so  that  the  two  are  enftrely  self-support- 
ing. 

"When  the  war  began  there  were  thir- 
teen institutions  for  i  hp  blind  in  Belgiuna:- 
Two  in  Antwerp,  two  in  Bruges,  three  h 
Brussels  and  one,  the  Royal  Ins'titutloi 
for  the  Dumb,  J>eaf  and  Blind,  founded  ii 
1*1?.  in  Liege.  Lt  is  doubtful  if  any  par 
of  this  remains  to-day.  At  Maeseyck  werj 
two  institutions,  one  for  boys  and  the  otbe 
for  girls.  The  others  were  in  smaile 
towns,  but  no  report  is  to  be  had  of  whs 
has  become  of  any  of  them  or  what  i 
being  done  for  the  blind  who  called  the? 
great    buildings    home.'" 

When    asked    regarding    the    number    < 
blind  in   Belgium   Miss   Holt  said:— 
One    In    Twelve    Hundred    Afflicted. 

"No  definite  tables  are  at   hand,    but 
has  been  roughly  estimated   that  one  pei 
son   in    every   twelve    hundred   In   B^lgiui 
was  either  blind  or  partly  so. 

"What    of    the   children,    the    babies,    th 
doubly   helpless  ones?" 

"They  are  with  the  great  thro 
hungry  women  and  children  who  plo< 
heavily  to  the  bread  lines  and  wait  am 
wait  for  the  milk  they  so  sorely  need  bu 
which  is  rarely  at  hand  to  satisfy  thei 
hunger. 

"That  Is  why  our  sightless  boys  and 
srirls  hero  at  the  Lighthouse  have  made  a 
little  contribution  to  buy  milk  that  wil 
g-o  out  on  board  the  children's  ship,  th* 
Argosy.  Notwithstanding  the  fat-l 
we  have,  bad  to  close  our  class* 
sympathy     of     the      blind      children 


'Lights'    I   call   them— has  been   so  ai 

ire  giving:  or  their  earnings  tc 
hasten  the  voyage  of  the  Argosy.  A  beau- 
tiful feature  of  their  giving-  is  that  it 
comes  from  children  representing  so  manj 
different  nationalities,  for  the  Light 
stands  on  a.  rock  of  neutrality,  and  itf- 
services  are  given  regardless  of  race  or 
creed." 

Miss  Holt,  turned  to  her  blind  stenogra- 
pher and  dictated  the  following  message .j— j 

"To  the  Blind  Children  of  Belgium  : 
The  Lights  of  the  Lighthouse,  in  the 
ty  and  happiness  afforded  by  the 
protection  of  the  lamp,  send  through  'Our 
Argosy'  greetings  and  a  message  of  love 
and  sympathy  to  Die  blind  children  of  Bel- 
gium,  together  with  an  offering  from  their 
own  earnings,  which  they  have  made  with 
ten  eyes  instead  of  two." 

This  will  be  sent,  by  the  Belgian  Relief 
Fund,  No.  10  .Bridge  street,  together  with 
the  letters  of  children,  to  the  little  Crown 
Princess  Marie  Jose  0f  Belgium,  in  whose 
name  the  Argosy  will  leave  a.bmit  May  1. 
Checks  should  be  sent  to  Belgian  Relief 
Fund,  and  should  be  made  payable  to  "J. 
P.  Morgan  &  Co..  for  Belgian  Relief  Fund." 


^Ve,.-J     1{qt-* 


I    ^ 


3 


LW^-Q  «->  . 


BLIND  OF  BELGIUM 
1H  PglFUL  PLIGHT 

Inmates   of   Great   Institutions 

Scattered  in  the  Starving 

Bread  Lines. 


SOME  ASYLUMS  DESTROYED 


» 


Suffering  Beyond  Words,  Says  Miss 

Holt— Wellesley     Girls     Send 

Ambulance  to  France. 


Miss  Winifred  Holt,   Secretary  of  the 
New    Torft    i(\fiRAWgti^    for    the    Blind,, 


"I  cannot  tell  where  the  blind  of 
Belgium  are — because  I  do  not  know 
— nobody  knows.  The  remnants  of 
them  must  be  somewhere  with  the 
other  starving,  helpless  ones — but 
many    of    them — " 

Miss  Holt's  eyes  were  suspiciously 
damp.     After  a  pause,   she  continued: 

"You  see,  when  Belgium  became  the 
hot-bed  of  war  and  the  cities  were 
bombarded,  the  sightless  ones  were 
entirely  dependent  upon  others  to 
guide  them  to  safety,  and  I  can  never 
think  of  conditions  there  among  the 
blind  without  a  shudder.  When  the 
besieged  cities  fell,  not  only  were  the 
institutions  for  the  blind  opened,  but 
the  prison  and  insane  asylums  as 
well,  poured  forth  their  surging  mas- 
ses amongst  the  refugees. 

"In  the  mad  rush  for  a  place  of 
near-safety,  what  chance  would  a 
blind  womi.n  or  child  or  even  a  blind 
man  have?  The  thought  of  our  help- 
less blind  friends  amid  such  a  scene 
and  in  such  a  wild  commotion  produc- 
es feelings  that  cannot  be  shaped  into 
words." 

Another  dark,  quiet  pause,  and  Miss 
Holt  said: 

"When  I  was  in  England,  a  short 
time  ago,  I  found  a  blind  woman  who 
had  escaped  with  her  little  daughter 
from  the  ruins  of  Turmonde.  Her 
home  had  been  completely  destroyed, 
her  husband  separated  from  her,  and 
she  arrived  in  England — penniless  and 
panic-striken,  unable  to  speak  the 
language.  Through  friends,  her  hus- 
band was  found,  and  she  is  now  living 
with  him  and  the  little  girl  in  a  com- 
fortable cottage  in  the  northern  part 
of  England. 

"Another  case  that  came  to  my  at- 
tention was  that  of  a  young  girl,  to- 
tally blind — living  in  the  Tieighborhood 
of  Brussels,  who  became  separated 
from  her  family  when  her  property 
was  destroyed.  She  finally  landed  in 
England  accompanied  by  an  acquaint- 
ance, and  is  now  happily  provided  for. 

"A  third  case  is  that  of  a  totally 
blind  man  accompanied  by  his  wife,  a 
refugee  from  Brussels,  where  he  had 
lived  for  a  long  time,  although  he  was 
an  American  citizen.  He  was  sent 
via  England  to  the  lighthouse  here 
in  New  York.  His  wife  has  joined 
our  staff,  and  he  is  busily  occupied 
with  a  handicraft,  so  that  the  pair 
ai-e    entirely    self-supporting. 


'  When  the  war  broke  out,  there 
institutions  for  the  blind  in 
Belgium;  two  in  Antwerp,  two  in 
Bruges,  three  in  Brussels,  and  one 
In  !  iege.  the  Royal  Institution  for  the 
dumb,  deaf  and  blind  founded  in  1819. 
11  la  doubtfu'  if  any  part  of  this  re- 
mains today.  At  Maeseyck,  were  two 
institutions,  one  for  boys  and  the 
other  for  girls,  The  others  were  in 
smaller  towns  but  no  report  is  to  be 
had  of  what  has  become  of  any  of 
them  nor  what  is  being:  done  for  the 
blind  people  who  called  these  great 
buildings   home." 

When  asked  regarding  the  number 
of  blind  in  Belgium,  >Miss  Holt  said: 

"No  definite  tables  are  at  hand,  but 
it  ha.;  been  roughly  estimated  that  one 
person  in  every  1200  in  Belgium  was 
either  partially  or  totally  blind. 

"What  of  the  children — the  babies — 
the  doubly  helpless  ones — what  is  be- 
in^-   done  for  them?" 

"They  are  with  the  great  throng  of 
hungry  women  and  children  who  plod 
heavily  to  the  bread  lines  and  wait — 
and  wait — and  wait  for  the  milk  they 
so  sorely  need — but  which  is  not  al- 
ways— indeed  which  is  rarely — at  hand 
to   satisfy   their   hunger. 

"That  is  why  our  sightless  boys  and 
girls  here  at  the  Lighthouse  have 
given  their  little  contribution  to  buy 
milk  that  will  go  out  on  the  children's 
ship,  the  Argosy,  Notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  we  have  had  to  close  our 
classes  here,  the  sympathy  of  the  blind 
children — my  'Lights,'  I  call  them — 
has  been  so  enormously  aroused  that 
they  are  giving  of  their  earnings  to 
hasten  the  sailing  of  the  Argosy.  A 
beautiful  feature  of  their  giving  is 
that  it  comes  from  children  repre- 
senting so  many  different  national- 
ities for  the  Light  stands  on  a  rock 
eutrality  and  its  services  are  given 
regardless    of    race    or   creed." 

Miss   Holt  turned  to  her  blind   sten- 
ographer   and    dictated    the    following 
message: 
"To   the    Blind    Children   of    Belgium. 
"The      Lights     of     the     Lighthouse, 
in    the    Security    and    happiness    af- 
forded by  the  protection  of  the  lamp. 
sent    through    'Our    Argosy,'    greet- 
ings    and     a     message     of     love     and 
sympathy    to    the    blind    children    of 
lum;    together    with   an    offering 
from     their     own      earnings,      which 
they   have   n  ade  with  their  ten 


instead   of  two." 

Quickly,  the  blind  operator  trans- 
cribed it  from  the  strip  of  paper  with 
its  perforations  in  the  English  Braille 
system  of  blind  writing  to  the  print 
type  of  a   typewriting  machine. 

This  specimen — the  work  of  a  blind 
writer — a  Light  in  the  most  wonderful 
Lighthouse  in  the  world,  will  be  sent 
by  the  Belgian  Relief  Fund,  10  Bridge 
street,  together  with  the  letters  of 
other  children  t<M  the  little  Crown 
Princess  Marie  Jose  of  Belgium,  in 
whose  name  the  Argosy  will  sail  about 
May  1st,  bearing  her  cargo  of  nourish- 
ing food  for  starving  babies  and  their 
mothers. 

Checks  should  be  sent  to  Belgian  Re- 
lief Fund.  10  Bridge  street,  New  York, 
and  should  be  made  payable  to  "J.  P. 
Morgan  &  Co.,  for  Belgian  Relief 
.Fund."   *  


Yx 


[ v  -  '. 


-  <s  - 


BELGIAN  BUND  NEED 
PHYSICIANS' HELP 

. 

Medical  Profession  Asked 

to  Aid  8,000  Destitute 

Victims  of  War. 

Physicians  of  the  United  States  are 
asked  to  help  the  8,000  homeless  blind 
of  Belgium.  In  making  the  appeal  Dr. 
P.  F.  Simpson,  treasurer  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  American  Physicians  for  the 
Aid  of  the  Belgian  Profession,  quotes 
estimates  made  by  Miss  Winifred  Holt 
after  her  return  from  Europe.  Miss 
Holt  is  secretary  of  the  New  York 
Association  for  the   Blind. 

She  places  the  number  of  sightl^s 
Belgians  at  8,000.  In  the  whole  country 
there  were  thirteen  institutions  hous- 
ing them.  When  war  broke  out  the 
homes  for  the  blind  were  wrecked  She 
obtained  no  information  as  to  the  fate 
of  the  inmates,  and  it  is  thought  that 
they  are  in  the  national  bread  line 

"To-day,"  writes  Dr.  Simpson,  "there 


is  a  cry  from  Belgium  'Send  us  food  or 
we  perish.'  This  is  just  as  mu'ch  the 
voice  of  God  as  the  voice  that  reached 
St.  Paul,  and  the  response  is  e\  en  more 
necessitous." 

Already  the  physicians'  committee 
has  sent  nearly  $6,000  worth  of  food  to 
the  families  of  Belgian  physicians.  The 
provisions  were  sent  through  the  Com- 
mission for  Rel'ef  in  Belgium. 

Thirteen  Chinese  boys  in  Mount  Ver- 
non sent  $4.90  and  a  letter  to  the  Bel- 
gian Relief  Fund  as  their  contribution 
toward  the  Argosy  laden  with  monej, 
and  letters  which  the  fund  is  sending 
in  the  name  of  Princess  Marie  Jose. 

The  letter  is  written  in  Chinese  anc 
will  doubtless  prove  a  puzzle  to  the 
little  Belgian  Princess.  With  the  thou- 
sands of  other  missives  received  it  will 
become  part  of  the  state  archives  oi 
Belgium.  The  money  will  buy  food  foi 
the  small  subjects  of  the  nine-year-old 
princess.  The  boys  are  members  of  the 
Chinese  Sunday  school  of  Mount  Ver- 
non. 

Contributions  received  yesterday  by 
the  Belgian  Relief  Fund  amounted  to 
$1,193.66.  The  total  is  $1,016,345.78. 
F.  A.  Quail  gave  $100  and  a  similar 
amount  came  from  "C.  C.  T."  The  fund 
for  the  American  Ambulance  Hospital 
in  Paris  is  $384,974.84,  of  which  $1,- 
514.82  was  received  yesterday.  From 
H.  Account,  Boston,  came  a  gift  of 
$900;  from  E.  Pierson  Beeker,  $500, 
and  from  Grant  Walker,  $100. 

Among  the  gifts  acknowledged  by  the 
American  Polish  Relief  Committee  was 
$500  from  Miss  Bliss,  and  $500  from 
"A.  B.  B."  The  American  Jewish  Re- 
lief Committee  acknowledged  contribu- 
tions amounting  to  $12,866.27,  bring- 
ing its  fund  up  to  $611,809.53.  Will- 
iam Fischman   gave   $125. 

Contributions  received  by  the  Serbian 
Agricultural  Relief  Committee  of 
America  included  $100  from  Harris 
Fahnestock,  $200  from  C.  L.  Coffin,  and 
$100  from  "H.  G.  B."  Gifts  to  the 
Committee  of  Mercy  amounted  to 
$185.10.  Its  fund  is  now  $141,292.45. 
Mrs.  E.  F.  Allen,  of  New  Rochelle,  gave 
$100. 

A  concert  will  be  given  this  afternoon 
at  the  Plaza  Hotel  for  the  benefit  of 
destitute  families  of  Parisian  mu-f 
sicians,  and  small  military  hospitals  in! 
the  French  provinces. 

It  is  under  the  patronage  of  Mme. 
Gatti-Casazza,  Mrs.  Paul  Cravath,  Mrs. 
Walter  Damrosch,  Mrs.  Charles  H.  Dit- 
son,  Mrs.  E.  Tiffany  Dyer,  Mrs.  John 
Hays  Hammond,  Mrs.  William  Ar- 
buckle  Jameson,  Mrs.  Paul  Morton,  Miss 
Florence  Murphy,  Mrs.  Ethelbert  Nevin, 
Mme.  Sembrich,  Mrs.  Lewis  Buckley 
Stillwell  and  Mrs.  William  Truesdale. 


who  has  jiu,L  lyiuiiiwi  "«iwiiF^n«ppir 

where  she  went  in  the  interest  of  blind 
Belgian  refugees,  has  sent  to  the  Bel- 
gian Relief  Committee,  8  and  10  Bridge 
Street,  a  Post  Office  order  for  $2.20,  the 
money  being  the  contribution  of  the 
Wind  children  of  The  Lighthouse,  at  111 
East  Fifty-ninth  Street,  who,  in  giving 
of  their  spare  pennies,  asked  that  they 
be  used  to  buy  food  for  the  Argosy 
that  is  going  to  Belgium  with  a  cargo 
of  supplies  purchased  with  money  given 
by  the  children  of  the  United  States. 

Miss  Holt  was  asked  yesterday  to  tell 
what  her  investigations  regarding  the 
fate  of  Belgian  blind  had  disclosed. 

"  I  cannot  tell  where  the  blind  of  Bel- 
gium are,"  said  Miss  Holt,  "  Decause  I 
do  not  know— nobody  knows.  They  must 
be  scattered  among  the  other  helpless, 
starving  unfortunates. 

"  You  see,  when  Belgium  became  the 
hotbed  of  war  and  the  cities  were  bom- 
barded, the  sightless  were  dependent 
upon  others  to  guide  them,  and  I  can 
never  think  of  conditions  there  among 
the  blind  without  a  shudder.  When  the 
besieged  cities  fell,  not  only  were  the 
institutions  for  the  blind  vacated,  but 
the  prisons  and  insane  asylums  as  well, 
poured  forth  their  surging  masses 
among  the  refugees. 

"  In  the  mad  rush  for  places  of  near- 
safety,  what  chance  would  a  blind  wo- 
iran  or  child  or  even  a  blind  man  have? 
The  thought  of  cur  helpless  blind  friends 
amid    such    chaos    and    wild    commotion 

f fives    feelings    that    cannot    be    shaped 
nto  words. 

One  in  Bach   lt200  Blind. 

"  "When  the  war  began  there  were 
thirteen  institutions  for  the  blind  in 
Belgium.  There  were  two  in  Antwerp, 
three  "in  Brussels,  two  in  Bruges,  and 
one  in  Liege,  that  in  Liege  called  the 
Royal  Institution  for  the  Dumb,  Deaf, 
and  Blind,  founded  nearly  100  years 
ago.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  part  of  the 
great  Li6ge  institution  remains  today. 
At  Maeseyck  there  was  an  institution 
for  boys  and  one  for  girls.  The  other 
institutions  were  in  smaller  places,  but 
no  report  is  to  be  had  of  what  has  be- 
come of  them  or  what  is  being  done  for 
the  blind  people  who  called  these  insti- 
tutions home. 

"  There  is  no  exact  data  at  hand,  but 
it  has  been  estimated  that  one  person 
in  every  1,200  in  Belgium  was  either 
partially  or  totally  blind.  As  for  the 
blind  children  and  babies  they  are  with 
the  miserable  hungry  people  in  the 
bread  lines  that  stretch  everywhere  in 
Belgium  now.  The  little  ones  need  milk, 
but  it  is  rarely  to  be  had." 

Of  the  blind  Belgiums  who  succeeded 
in  getting  out  of  the  country  Miss  Holt 
found  many  in  Kngland,  where  every 
effort  was  being  made  to  care  for  them. 

At  the  close  of  her  interview  Miss  Holt 
handed  over  the  contribution  made  by 
the    blind    children    of    The     Lighthouse 


and    then    dictated    this    letter    to    "  the 

blind  children  of  Belgium": 

The  Lighta  of  the  Lighthouse,  In  the 
Kf.-uritv  and  happiness  afforded  by  the 
protection  of  the  lamp,  send,  through  "  Our 
Argosv,'"  greetings  and  a  message  of  love 
and  svmpathy  to  the  blind  children  of 
Belgium;  together  with  an  offering  from 
their  own  earnings,  which  they  have-  made 
with  their  ten  eyes  Instead  of  two. 
The    letter    will    be    forwarded    to    the 

Princess     Marie     Jose\     to     whom     the 

Argosv  will  he  nominally  consigned. 


T 


-r 


Tl 


^YV 


~1 


l  ~  . 


EVERYTHING  RUSSIAN 


A 


FOR  ARMY  BAZAAR 


Houses,   shops.  Costumes  and 

Dances  to  Show  Life  of 

the  Empire. 


Arrangements  have  been  completed 
for  the  bazaar  to  be  held  at  the  Seventy- 
first  Regiment  Armory  during  the  week 
of  April  12  for  the  benefit  of  the  Rus- 
sian War  Relief  Society.  The  affair  is 
under  the  direction  of  Mine.  Kakhmeteff, 
wife  of  the  Russian  Ambassador  10  the 
United  States.  The  Russian  idea  will  be 
carried  out  to  the  last  detail.  There 
will  be  Russian  houses  and  shops,  Rus- 
sian costumes  and  customs.  Russian 
dances  and  moving  pictures  and  even 
Mme.    Bakhmeteff's   own   cook. 

The  bazaar  will  be  openevery  day 
from  3  to  6  P.  M.  and  from  8  to  12. 
Russian  specialties  by  Russian  artists 
will  be  on  the  programme,  together  with 
exhibition  dancing.  There  will  be  a 
"Castle  Day"  when  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Vernon 
Castle  will  show  their  latest  steps. 
Fourteen  booths  will  be  presided  over  as 
follows : 

Russian  Villa,  Mme.  Bakhmeteff  and 
Mrs.  W.  K.  Vanderbilt;  Russian  Art 
Store,  Princess  Paul  Troubetzkoy  ;  Fin- 
nish Craftsman  Shop,  Russian  Theolog- 
ical Seminary,  Mrs.  Vera  Johnston ; 
Russian  L»og  Cabin,  Mrs.  Henry  W. 
Hiller:  Colonial  George  Washington 
Villa.  Mrs.  I.  McMartin  ;  Cafe  de  Paris, 


Mrs.  Philip  McFadden ;  Fetrograd  Em- 
porium, Mrs.  Max  Straus ;  Ukraine 
Wind  Mill.  Mrs.  Peter  Kohanik ;  Man- 
ehurian  Temple,  Miss  Isabel  F.  Hap- 
good;  Caucasian  Store,  Mesrop  NeV-ton 
Khan ;  Astrakhan  House,  X.  Knapp ; 
Children's  World,  Mmes.  Kluge,  Lachno 
and  Polevoy  ;  Indian  Camp  and  Country 
Store,    Gabriel   G.    Dobroff. 

Mrs.  W.  K.  Vanderbilt  has  given  a 
Russian  wolfhound  to  the  fair. 

The  blind  children  of  the  Light  House, 
111  East  Fifty -ninth  street,  have  con- 
tributed $2.20  for  the  blia^  children  of 
Belgium.  Miss  Winifred  Holt,  secretary 
of  the  New  York  Association  for  the 
Blind,  said  the  contribution  will  be  used 
in  buying  milk  which  will  go  out  on  the 
children's   ship,   the   Argosy. 

War  relief  contributions  to  the  vari- 
ous funds  are  reported  as  follows: 

Yesterday,       Total. 
Committee    of    Mercy ..  $375.00      $135.S98.00 

Belgian     Relief 6,174.98        995.579.59 

Amer.     Am.     Hospital..     975.00        381,206.02 

Secours    National 8.00  63,598.92 

Red      Cross 1,094.66        475,350.34 

Wellesley  College  girls  have  con- 
tributed $800  for  the  purchase  of  an 
automobile  ambulance  for  the  American 
Ambulance  Hospital. 


YVo^    ^  or. 


v.         O     ^ 


, 


MANY  BLINDED  BY  WAR, 
SAYS  WINIFRED  HOLT 

#  — 

Secretary  of  Association  Here 

Says  Foreign  Need  Is  a 

Big  Drain. 


War  wae  assigned  as  a  great  cause  of 
blindness  by  Miss  Winifred  Holt  yes- 
terday in  a  lecture  given  for  the  Board 
of  Education  at  the  Harlem  Y.  M.  C.  A 
Miss  Holt  Is  secretary  of  the  New  York 
Association  for  the  RlUMJy 

"In  one  hospital  In  France,  I  am  told, 
there  are  a  hundred  young  men  who 
were  bMnded  in  battle,"  she  said.  "The 
Prince  of  Wales  has  just  appropriated  a 
large  sum  and  a  generous  American,  Mr. 
Otto  Kahn,  has  given  his  house,  which 
has  become  a  hospital  for  blinded  sol- 
diers. 


■H 


"Warfare  of  to-day  causes  a  great 
Seal  more  blindness  than  formerly.  We 
have  to  consider  the  great  power  of  the 
airtillery,  the  paralysis  caused  by  ex- 
plosions which  affect  the  optic  nerve, 
jometimes  temporarily,  frequently  for 
ife,  causing  loss  of  sight.  Pieces  of 
shrapnel,  powder  flashes  and  wounds  all 
reap  a  large  harvest  of  blindness. 

"Foreign  need  is  deflecting  funds  from 
pur  own  blind  and  especial  efforts  are 
Necessary  to  carry  on  the  work  here  of 
preventing  blindness  and  of  keeping  the 
blind  employed.  Unemployment  is 
tragedy  to  those  with  perfectly  good 
vision.  For  the  blind  it  is  unrelieved 
tfragedy. 

J  "President  Wilson  has  graciously 
given  his  name  as  a  patron  for  the  fete 
Which  we  are  to  have  on  April  6"  at  tho 
Motel  Astor,  part  of  the  proceeds  of 
which  will  go  to  the  men  blinded  in  hat- 
tire  and  to  the  pitiful  blind  refugees  who 
cpme  to  us  from  the  war  zone. 

"We  hope  that  the  community  will  aid 
this  effort  of  ours  to  help  where  help  is 
so  much  needed.  The  blind  in  New  York 
are  so  pressed  for  money  that  a  club  of 
bl.ind  men  recently  sent  us  a  check  for 
$100  to  relieve  the  needy  blind." 


Ylt 


^ 


YYir 


&/±>  t> 


<,  vul  uv^  ^ 


u. 


J.~_ 


1^15. 


THE    BLIND    BABIES   OF   BELGIUM. 

Wllllrfifl  Ho  ^"""Recently  Returned 
from  the  "Saddest  Country,"  Dis- 
cusses the  possibilities  of  their 
Fate. 

"Where  are  they?*' 
There  was  no  reply.  Miss  Holt  clos- 
ed her  eyes  tightly— a  habit  which 
s'tiuk  to  put  her  in  physical  accord 
with  the  blind  in  whim  she  is  so  vital- 
ly interested. 

The  interviewer  repeated  the  ques- 
tion: 

"Where  are  they?  What  has  be- 
come of  the  blind  men  and  women 
and    little   children    of   Belgium?" 

The  questions  were  asked  of  Miss 
W'inil'red  Holt,  secretary  of  the  New 
York  association  for  the  blind,  as  she 
sat  at  her  desk  in  The  lighthouse  at 
111  East  Fifty-ninth  street,  New  York 
city.  Miss  Holt  has  recently  returned 
from  England  where  she  went  in  the 
interest   of  blind   refugees. 


FT 


mm 


THE 


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w* 


2s.  post  free, 
per  annum. 


Braille 
Review 


A     MONTHLY      MAGAZINE      DEVOTED     TO     THE 
::        ::       INTERESTS     OF    THE     BLIND.       ::        :: 


VOL.  XIII. 


APRIL,  1915. 


No.  4. 


THE 

"  H.  S.  " 

WATC  H 

(For  full  description 
and  particulars,  see 
page    2     of    cover). 


29E 


Sfe 


M 


'*C 


ffl^WSkM  ■   >W&W@& 


THE    "HS."    WATCH. 

Figures  3,  6,  9.  and  12  indicated  by  raised  bars,  the  intervening 
figures    by   dots. 


pricks: 
Silver  Case,  Gentleman's  size 

,,        ,,        Ladv's  size 
Nickel  Case,  Lady  or  Gentleman's  size 
Gun  Metal  Case,  Gentlemen's  size 


f  1    2s.  6d. 

18s.  6d. 

14s.  Od. 

15s.  Od. 


THE     "N.I.  B."     DOMINO 

A  NEW  DEPARTURE. 


These  high  grade  dominoes  have  been  specially  pre- 
pared for  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind  ;  they  are  made 
of  a  composition  which  is  the  result  of  long  and  expensive 
trials,  and  being  in  one  piece  and  having  no  rivets  they  are 
practically  indestructible.  For  institutions  and  schools  they 
are  of  great  service  as  they  can  be  cleaned  easily  by  using  a  dry 
cloth.  The  dominoes  are  boxed  in  decorative  enamelled  tins, 
the  whole  making  a  most  suitable  and  acceptable  present.  :: 

PRICE    3  6    PER    BOX      (inland    postage    5d.    extra). 
TO    BE    OBTAINED    ONLY    FROM 

THE   NATIONAL  INSTITUTE  FOR  THE  BLIND, 

GREAT   PORTLAND    STREET,  LONDON,  W. 


PRINCESS     MARY'S     GIFT     BOOK 
(BRAILLE  EDITION.) 


Illustration  of  the  volume  accepted   by  H.R.H.    Princess  Ma 


ry. 


The  Braille  Review. 


Che  Blinded  Soldier. 

By  C.  ARTHUR  PEARSON. 

(Chairman  of  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care  Committee.) 

I  have   been  asked  by  the  Editor  of  The  Braille  Review  to  write 
something  about  what  is  being  done  for  the  brave  fellows  who 
have  given  their  sight  in  the  service  of  their  country. 
I   am   glad  to  say  that  at  present  it  is  only  necessary  to  speak  of 
the  blinded  soldier  ;  at  the    time  of  writing,    no  sailors  have    been 
blinded  in  the  war. 

There  are,  so  far  as  we  know  at  present,  forty-one  soldiers  who 
have  reached  this  country  from  the  front  with  their  eye-sight  fatally 
damaged,  and  these  include  two  officers — both  Irishmen — and  two 
Belgians  whom  we  are  glad  to  treat  on  an  equality  with  the  British 
soldier.  We  of  this  country  owe  much  to  the  fighting  men  of  Belgium, 
and  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  for  those  of  them  who  have  been 
blinded  to  be  given  adequate  attention  at  home. 

The  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care  Committee  is  constituted 
as  follows  : — 

Miss  E.  YV.  Austin,  Secretary  of  the  Incorporated  National  Lending 

Library  for  the  Blind. 
The   Hon.  Arthur  Stanley,  Chairman  of  the  British  Red  Cross 

Society,  and  the  Order  of  St.  John. 
A.  W.  G.   Ranger,   D.C.L.,   Chairman  of  The  National  Institute 

for  the  Blind. 
R.    Tindal    Robertson,    a    member    of   the    British    Red    Cross 
organisation  and    of  the  Council   of   the    National    Lending 
Library  for  the  Blind. 
H.   Stainsby,  Secretary-General  of  The  National  Institute  for  the 

Blind. 
With  myself  as  Chairman. 

An  Advisory  Council  has  been  formed,  which  has  been  joined 
by  a  great  number  of  the  workers  among  the  blind  who  are  best 
qualified  to  advise  and  assist. 

After  we  had  settled  in  our  minds  the  best  steps  to  pursue,  we 
called  into  our  counsels  the  Rev.  St.  Clare  Hill,  Mr.  H.  J.  Wilson, 
Mr.  Guy  Campbell,  Mr.  Siddall,  Mr.  Stoddart  and  Mr.  Ben  Purse, 
advantage  being  taken  of  the  visit  of  the  two  last-named  to  London 
to  take  part  in  a  meeting  of  the  Departmental  Committee  on  the 
Blind. 

We  were  gratified  to  learn  that  in  the  main  the  arrangements  we 
had  devised  met  with  the  cordial  approval  of  this  gathering,  and,  as 
the  result  of  a  lengthy  discussion,  our  plans  were  placed  upon  what 
seems  a  thoroughly  sound  basis. 

As  all  the  readers  of  The  Braille  Revieiv  probably  know,  we  have 
been  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  St.  Dunstan's,  Regent's  Park,  for  our 
headquarters.  The  house,  which  has  been  generously  lent  us  by 
Mr.  Otto  Kahn,  the  distinguished  American  banker,  is  of  magnificent 


The  Braille  Review.  3 

proportions  and  well  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  being 
used.  It  lends  itself  to  the  formation  of  separate  quarters  for  Officers, 
and  contains  a  very  spacious  ball-room  which  will  be  used  as  a 
lounge  and  entertainment-hall. 

St.  Dunstan's  is  surrounded  by  fifteen  acres  of  private  gardens 
and  grounds,  from  which  a  gate  leads  into  the  wide  expanse  of 
Regent's  Park.  An  arm  of  the  large  Regent's  Park  lake  runs  into  the 
gardens,  thus  rendering  easy,  rowing,  to  my  mind,  the  best  exercise 
for  blind  people. 

The  out-houses  and  stables  are  well  adapted  for  the  pupose  of 
temporary  training-rooms  and  workshops. 

The  occupations  which  are  being  taught  here  are : — 

i.  Carpentry. — The  preliminary  stage  of  this  is  the  ingenious 
adaptation  of  the  Swedish  slojd  system,  which  has  been  devised  at 
the  Royal  Normal  College.  Benches  and  other  appliances  have  been 
kindly  placed  at  our  disposal  by  Mr.  Guy  Campbell,  who  has  trained 
a  teacher  for  us,  and  generally  supervised  the  arrangements.  From 
slojd,  the  men  will  pass  to  practical  carpentry,  which  will  be  taught 
by  Mr.  E.  H.  Atkinson,  of  Sheffield.  Mr.  Atkinson  has  given  up, 
for  the  time  being,  his  profitable  business  as  a  carpenter  in  Sheffield 
in  order  to  help  us.  He  is  probably,  of  all  blind  artisans  in  the 
kingdom,  the  one  who,  by  his  own  unaided  efforts,  earns  the  largest 
income. 

2.  Boot  Repairing. — Arrangements  for  this  have  been  super- 
vised by  Mr.  Siddall,  of  Rochdale,  who  introduced  this  industry 
for  blind  people  into  this  country.  A  highly  competent  blind  boot 
repairer  has  been  selected  as  Instructor. 

3  Mat-making — Of  the  lighter  order,  not  requiring  special 
machinery. 

4.  Basket  -  making.  —  Chiefly  of  the  fancy  order.  Skilled 
blind  instructors  have  been  chosen  for  this  industry  and  that  of  mat- 
making. 

5.  Telephone  Operating. — Thii  will  be  taught  in  the  new 
premises  of  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind,  where  special 
arrangements  have  been  made  by  which  our  blind  telephone  operator 
can  give  instruction  to  others. 

6.  Massage. — This  will  also  be  taught  in  the  new  premises  of 
The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind,  which,  as  I  believe  the  readers 
of  this  journal  have  been  informed  elsewhere,  will,  in  future,  be 
responsible  for  the  adequate  development  of  this  most  important 
branch  of  industry  for  the  blind. 

7.  Poultry  Farming,  Market  Gardening,  etc. — The 
grounds  of  St.  Dunstan's  render  adequate  instruction  in  these  pursuits 
possible.     Captain  Peirson- Webber,  the  well -known  blind  expert,  has 


4  The  Braille  Review. 

been  so  good  as  to  make  himself  responsible  for  the  arrangements  and 
conduct  of  the  Country  Life  section  which  he  will  superintend.  A 
properly  qualified  instructor  has  been  secured,  and  a  model  plant 
has  been  installed. 

These  arrangements  cover  the  industrial  field  which  will  be,  for 
the  present,  open  to  the  blinded  soldier.  In  the  majority  of  instances 
we  do  not  expect  to  complete  the  training  at  St.  Dunstan's.  Our 
function  here  is  to  discover  the  pursuit  for  which  a  man  is  best 
fitted  and  give  him  preliminary  instruction  in  it. 

The  large  grant  which  has  been  made  by  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
Fund  for  the  purpose  will  enable  us  to  arrange  for  further  training, 
and  to  settle  the  men  in  life. 

The  cost  of  running  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Hostel 
is  borne  by  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind,  the  Red  Cross 
Society  and  the  Order  of  St.  John. 

A  special  fund  has  been  raised  with  which  to  supply  the  men 
with  typewriters  and  other  apparatus,  and  also  to  pay  the  travelling 
expenses  and  board  and  lodging  of  near  relatives  who  live  in  the 
country,  and  who  are  invited  periodically  to  spend  a  few  days  close 
to  their  husbands,  sons  or  brothers. 

Further,  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind  has  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Committee  a  Seaside  Home  which  it  has  lately 
established  at  Brighton. 

This  Home,  which  is  comfortable  and  commodious,  will  be  used 
as  a  convalescent  resort  for  men  who  require  a  period  of  repose  after 
being  discharged  from  Hospital.  It  will  also  be  used  as  a  holiday 
and  week-end  resort. 

The  training  of  the  blinded  soldier  is  not  confined  to  industrial 
pursuits.  All  the  men  are  learning  to  read  and  write  Braille,  and  in 
most  cases  are  making  remarkably  quick  progress.  They  learn  type- 
writing, too,  and  are  given  lectures  on  interesting  subjects  by  the 
leading  experts  of  the  day. 

Considerations  of  space  prevent  my  dwelling  upon  the  happy 
conditions  under  which  our  community  here  lives.  A  cheerier  set  of 
fellows  it  has  never  been  my  good  fortune  to  meet,  and  the  kindness 
of  many  friends  in  taking  them  for  walks  and  motor  drives,  and 
providing  them  with  flowers,  fruit  and  other  luxuries  is  unending. 

The  ladies  belonging  to  Voluntary  Aid  Detachments  who  look 
after  them,  do  much  to  make  their  lives  bright  and  happy. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  the  perfection  of  the 
plans  which  have  been  made,  but  I  do  venture  to  say  that  no  blind 
men  have  ever  been  given  so  grand  an  opportunity  of  making  good 
in  the  world  as  is  afforded  to  these. 

Who  will  deny  that  no  trouble  or  expense  can  repay  them  for 
the  sacrifice  which  they  have  made  in  defending  our  homes  and 
upholding  the  honour  of  the  British  Flag. 


The  Braille  Review. 


College  of  Ceaehers  of  the  Blind. 

EXAMINATION. 

Owing  to  the  recent  death  of  Mr.  F.  J.  Munby,  Hon.  Secretary, 
and  Mr.  A.  B.  Norwood,  M.A.,  Principal  of  the  Yorkshire  School 
for  the  Blind,  York,  it  has  been  decided  to  accept  the  kind  invitation 
of  Mr.  Maddocks  to  hold  the  19 15  Examination  of  the  College  at 
the  School  for  the  Blind,  Broomhill,  Sheffield,  and  not  at  York  as 
previously  announced.  Will  intending  candidates  please  note  the 
change?  The  Examination  will  be  held  on  Tuesday  18th,  Wednesday 
19th,  and  (possibly)  Thursday  20th  May  next,  as  arranged  for  York. 

ANNUAL     MEETING. 

The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Council  was  held  on  the  20th  March 
last,  at  the  offices  of  Gardner's  Trust  for  the  Blind,  Yictoria  Street, 
Westminster,  during  which  authority  was  given  for  the  bestowal  of 
fellowships  of  the  College  upon  Alfred  Eichholz,  M.A.,  M.D.,  B.C. 
(Cambridge),  H.M.  Inspector  of  Schools  and  Senior  Assistant  Medical 
Officer  to  the  Board  of  Education,  Miss  M.  M.  R.  Garaway,  Superin- 
tendent of  the  L.C.C.  School  for  Blind  Boys,  Linden  Lodge, 
Wandsworth  Common,  S.W.,  and  Guy  M.  Campbell,  F.R.G.S., 
Principal  of  the  Royal  Normal  College  for  the  Blind,  Upper  Nor- 
wood, S.E. 

The  meeting  of  the  Council  was  followed  by  a  public  meeting  at 
which  Mrs.  Wilton  Phipps,  Vice-Chairman  of  the  L.C.C.  Special  Schools 
Sub-Committee  kindly  took  the  chair,  and  bestowed  the  fellowships 
upon  Miss  Garaway  and  Mr.  Campbell.  The  presentation  also  took 
place  of  the  gold  medal  offered  by  the  College  for  the  best  essay  on 
''The  History  of  the  Education  of  the  Blind  prior  to  1830,"  which 
was  awarded  to  Miss  E.  R.  Scott,  of  Shere,  Surrey,  Editor  of  The 
Weekly  Summary  for  the  Blind.  We  much  regret  that  want  of  space 
precludes  our  giving  a  fuller  report  of  this  interesting  meeting. 


Ghe  Rational  Institution   for  fljassage 
by  the  Blind. 

Arrangements  are  now  complete  whereby  this  Institution  will 
pass  under  the  management  of  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind. 
Massage  is  one  of  the  few  occupations  in  which  the  blind  can  stand 
on  an  equal  footing  writh  the  sighted,  and  no  pains  will  be  spared  by 
The  National  Institute  to  train  successfully,  and  place  blind  persons 
who  are  found  suitable  for  this  profession.  The  National  Institution 
for  Massage  by  the  Blind  has  done  much  good  work  in  the  past,  but 
the  death  of  Dr.  Fletcher  Little  in  August  last  created  difficulties  in 
the  matter  of  providing  pre  per  training.  The  Chairman  of  The 
Massage  Institution  was  Mr.  John  Tennant,  and  the  Hon.  Secretary, 
Mrs.  McNichol  to  both  of  whom  the  friends  of  the  blind  will  accord 
hearty  thanks  for  the  great  work  they  have  accomplished. 


6  The  Braille  Review. 

Origin  and  Growth  of  the  "IDoon"  System. 

V  /  ■  HEN  recording  the  death  of  Miss  A.  E.  C.  Moon  in  our 
vJUl  December  issue  we  promised  to  give  some  account  of  the 
"  Moon  "  System  at  an  early  date,  we  now  do  so,  and  trust  that 
the  following  brief  account  of  its  early  history  and  growth  will  be  of 
interest  to  our  readers. 

William  Moon,  the  inventor  of  the  type  for  the  blind  which 
bears  his  name  was  born  at  Horsemonden,  near  Tunbridge  Wells,  on 
the  1 8th  December,  1818.  Like  many  men  who  have  achieved 
something  in  life  he  was  blessed  with  a  good  mother,  and  it  is 
doubtless  to  her  that  he  owed  his  strong  personality,  and  capacity  for 
perseverence  in  the  face  of  discouragement  and  difficulty.  When 
William  was  seven  years  of  age,  his  father  died  and  his  mother  moved 
to  Brighton,  the  boy  being  sent  to  school  in  London. 

At  the  age  of  four  he  lost  the  sight  of  one  eye  as  the  result  of 
scarlet  fever,  and  the  sight  of  the  other  was  seriously  weakened.  He 
underwent  several  operations,  but  his  sight  gradually  failed,  and  in 
1840,  at  the  age  of  21  he  became  totally  blind.  His  only  sister, 
Mary,  was  his  devoted  companion,  and  was  always  ready  to  render 
him  assistance.  He  was  an  indefatigable  worker,  and  it  is  reported 
of  him  that  in  his  eagerness  for  knowledge  he  would  frequently  get 
out  of  bed  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and,  seeking  her  room,  would 
light  a  candle  and  ask  her  to  read  him  passages  from  some  work  he 
had  brought  with  him.  As  a  relaxation  he  taught  himself  to  play  the 
violin. 

During  1838-9,  just  before  his  sight  left  him  completely,  he  gave 
his  attention  to  mastering  the  various  systems  of  reading  for  the  blind 
then  in  use,  and  he  was  soon  able  to  read  Frere's  embossed  type. 

Having  nothing  to  occupy  his  time  and  mind  he  began  to  seek 
out  and  teach  blind  persons  in  their  own  homes,  and  soon  succeeded 
in  getting  together  a  class  of  blind  persons  of  various  ages.  A  year 
later  the  class  was  removed  to  an  Institution  for  the  Blind,  Deaf  and 
Dumb  opened  in  Egremont  Place,  Brighton,  bat  a  separation  soon 
occurred,  and  the  blind  members,  after  several  moves  finally  settled 
in  Eastern  Road. 

Various  systems  of  reading  were  taught  in  this  class,  but  it  was 
soon  found  that  many  of  the  pupils  were  incapable  of  deciphering 
types  like  Alston's,  in  which  the  ordinary  Roman  capitals  were 
employed,  and  they  were  thereby  debarred  from  the  pleasure  and 
profit  of  reading. 

Reflecting  on  these  facts,  the  desire  arose  in  his  mind  to  devise 
some  easier  method,  and  after  much  earnest  consideration  and 
ingenious  contriving  he  constructed  his  new  alphabet,  Most  of  the 
characters  are  either  unaltered  or  slightly  modified  forms  of  the 
Roman  letters.  Where  some  of  the  more  complex  letters  could  not 
be  modified  with  advantage  they  were  discarded  altogether,  new 
characters  being  substituted  for  them.  The  complete  alphabet  will 
be  found  to  consist  of  only  nine  distinct  characters  of  the  simplest 
form,  utilised  in  various  positions.  Eight  of  the  Roman  letters  are 
used  unaltered,  fourteen  others  with  parts  left  out,  and  five  new  and 


The  Braille  Review. 


7 


very  simple  forms  are  added.  There  are  a  few  simple  contractions 
for  such  common  suffixes  as  "  tion,"  "  ness,"  "  ing,"  etc.  Words  are 
written  with  the  ordinary  spelling,  whereas  the  systems  of  "  Lucas" 
and  "  Frere  "  were  phonetic,  the  words  being  written  according  to  the 
sound  and  not  as  spelled. 


*  z 


Ma  !j  j 


f. 


('I 


/\ 


•o> 


;T-- !-'■: 

>  J  a  -" 

*  f  5  IS  05 

-  p=  r .  /• 
r .  ^ 


,  D  J^1  J'    !  />!l 


/  > 


oi    'J 


•  \ 


/■-'•  j 


)  » 


or.     < 


l^2> 


:?3fi 


The  more  Moon  tried  his  type  the  more  he  was  encouraged  by 
its  success  ;  and  it  now  became  evident  that  his  future  life  was 
destined  to  be  devoted  to  the  welfare  of  the  blind,  and  especially  to 
the  production  of  literature  for  their  use,  as  he  himself  said  "  God 
gave  me  blindness  as  a  talent  to  be  used  for  His  glory." 


8 


The  Braille  Review. 


In  1847  a  generous  gift  of  ^£60  enabled  him  to  issue  the  first 
publications  in  his  system,  consisting  of  a  monthly  magazine  and 
some  devotional  extracts.  As  soon  as  these  books  began  to  circulate 
an  urgent  demand  arose  for  various  portions  of  the  Bible,  but  it  was 
obviously  out  of  the  question  to  print  the  Scriptures  with  the  small 
quantity  of  type  available,  as  it  would  have  been  necessary  to  distribute 
the  type  after  printing  a  few  pages  and  reset  it  at  great  expense  when 
reprints  were  required ;  some  system  of  stereotyping  was  clearly 
necessary.  "  Shortly  afterwards,"  he  says,  "  a  plan  occurred  to  me 
by  which  I  was  enabled  to  manufacture  stereotype-plates  at  a  com- 
paratively small  expense — two  shillings  and  sixpence  per  plate — and 
these  would  be  permanently  available  for  future  editions  By  the 
ordinary  method  of  that  time  they  could  not  have  been  produced  for 
six  times  this  amount." 

The  embossing  work  was  first  carried  on  at  his  own  house,  but 
the  growing  demand  for  books  made  new  premises  urgently  necessary, 
and  in  1856  the  foundation  stone  of  the  present  printing  premises 
was  laid  by  Sir  Charles  Lowther,  Bart.,  who  was  himself  blind. 

The  first  report  of  the  Moon  Society  was  issued  in  1852,  and 
consisted  chiefly  of  an  appeal  for  funds  to  complete  the  stereotyping 
of  the  Bible,  which  altogether  was  estimated  to  cost  about  ^1,000. 

To  go  back  somewhat,  it  was  in  1843  tnat  William  Moon  married 
his  first  wife,  Miss  Mary  Ann  Caudle,  the  eldest  daughter  of  a  well- 
known  surgeon  in  Brighton,  This  lady  was  the  mother  of  his  two 
children  Dr.  Robert  C.  Moon,  and  Miss  Adelaide  E.  C.  Moon  who 
both  died  in  19 14,  Miss  Moon's  end  being  doubtless  hastened  by 
grief  for  her  brother  to  whom  she  was  deeply  attached. 

It  is  to  William  Moon,  the  inventor  of  the  system,  that  we  also 
owe  the  initiation  of  Home  Teaching  Societies  which  have  done  so 
much  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of  the  blind.  Repeated  experiments 
having  shown  that  the  adult  blind  of  all  ages  and  conditions  could 
learn  to  read  Moon  type  with  comparative  ease,  and  the  fact  being 
recognised  that  by  far  the  larger  proportion  of  these  were  scattered 
among  the  sighted  population,  efforts  were  soon  made  to  devise  some 
plan  by  which  all  of  them  could  be  reached  and  taught.  Accordingly 
in  various  parts  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  in  America,  Australia 
and  other  countries,  Home  Teaching  Societies  and  Lending 
Libraries  of  Moon's  books  were  established,  and  teachers,  many  of 
whom  were  themselves  blind,  were  engaged  in  visiting  the  blind  in 
their  own  homes,  teaching  them  to  read  and  providing  them  with 
books. 

The  first  Home  Teaching  Society  was  founded  in  London  in 
1855  in  co-operation  with  Miss  Graham,  a  zealous  and  energetic 
worker  who  devoted  both  time  and  money  to  the  enterprise.  The 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  its  president,  and  several  bishops  were 
among  the  vice-presidents.  In  speaking  of  it  Dr.  Moon  said  :  "  The 
work  commenced  in  London  has  spread  to  many  other  cities  and 
countries  of  the  world  ;  and  I  think  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the 
home  teaching  and  free  libraries  form  one  of  the  greatest  spiritual 
and  intellectual  blessings  that  the  blind  have  ever  enjoyed."     In  the 


The  Braille  Review.  9 

next  following  years  such  libraries  and  societies  were  established  in 
all  the  principal  towns  and  districts  of  this  country,  and  we  find  Dr. 
Moon  undertaking  a  number  of  missionary  journeys  abroad  which 
resulted  in  a  rapid  expansion  in  the  number  of  readers  of  the  system. 

After  personally  visiting  Holland,  Germany,  France  and  Scan- 
dinavia where  the  system  was  eagerly  welcomed,  he  went  with  his 
daughter  in  1881  to  the  United  States.  Earnest  requests  had  for 
many  years  been  coming  from  the  United  States  for  embossed  books, 
and  Sir  Charles  Lowther  had  himself  generously  presented  2,000 
volumes  to  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Boston.  The  visit  was  most 
successful.  Throughout  the  whole  tour  Dr.  Moon  was  warmly 
received  by  the  authorities  of  the  institutions  he  visited,  and  free 
lending  libraries  were  established  in  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Chicago 
and  Pittsburg. 

Dr.  Moon  was  elected  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society  in  1859,  and  Fellow  of  the  Society  of  Arts  in  1864.  In 
1862  he  was  awarded  Honourable  Mention  at  the  International 
Exhibition,  and  in  187 1  received  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  of 
the  University  of  Philadelphia.  In  1890  he  celebrated  his  Jubliee 
and  was  presented  with  an  illuminated  address,  a  time-piece  and  a 
purse  containing  ^250  in  recognition  of  his  untiring  efforts  on 
behalf  of  the  blind.  On  the  10th  October,  1894  he  passed  peacefully 
away  in  the  midst  of  his  work  without  preliminary  illness,  and  was 
laid  to  rest  in  the  cemetery  at  Brighton. 

His  son  Robert  C.  Moon,  to  whom  we  have  already  referred, 
was  an  ophthalmic  surgeon  and  settled  in  America.  He  took  up  the 
work  of  Home  Teaching  in  the  United  States  which  had  been  started  by 
his  father  years  before.  Under  his  guiding  hand  the  old  Philadelphia 
Society  developed  into  a  State  Society,  now  entitled  the  "  Pennsylvania 
Home  Teaching  Society  and  Free  Circulating  Library,"  which  is  the 
leading  institution  of  its  kind  in  America,  and  circulates  books  over 
the  whole  of  that  vast  territory.  He  was  also  the  first  President  of 
the  Chapin  Memorial  Home  for  Aged  Blind  People,  a  member 
of  the  Advisory  Board  of  the  New  York  Association  for  the  Blind, 
Treasurer  of  the  Blind  Fund  of  Philadelphia,  and  a  Trustee  of  the 
11  Moon  "  Society,  Brighton.  He  was  a  member  of  several  learned 
societies  including  the  Harleian  Society  of  London. 

On  the  death  of  her  father  the  whole  management  of  the  "  Moon" 
Society  devolved  upon  Miss  Adelaide  E.  C.  Moon,  who  had  all  along 
been  her  father's  right  hand,  and  was  familiar  with  every  detail  of 
the  work.  How  well  she  succeeded  was  pointed  out  in  our  issue 
of  December  last,  and  we  need  not  repeat  what  is  there  said. 

The  catalogue  of  the  Moon  Society  includes  a  selection  of  books 
on  science,  religion,  history  and  fiction  ;  music ;  astronomical  and 
terrestial  maps  ;  calendars,  etc.,  as  well  as  portions  of  the  Bible  in 
English,  and  various  languages  and  dialects  of  India  and  the  Far 
East.  The  last  published  balance  sheet  shows  book  sales  of  ^682, 
and  donations  of  .£649.  There  are  now  957  English  volumes  in 
print,  and  347  in  foreign  languages.     The  total  number  of  volumes 


IO 


The  Braille  Review. 


sent  out  since  the  commencement  is  321,000.     The  Society  possesses 
stereotype  plates  weighing  approximately  100  tons. 

At  the  time  of  Miss  Moon's  death  arrangements  were  being 
made  for  the  Society  to  become  a  branch  of  The  National  Institute 
for  the  Blind,  and  since  then  it  has  entirely  passed  under  the 
management  of  that  Institution.  Every  effort  will  be  made  by  the 
Council  of  the  National  Institute  to  maintain  and  extend  the  Society, 
so  that  the  blind  may  reap  the  fullest  advantage  from  its  work.  The 
book  production  will  continue  to  be  carried  on  at  104,  Queen's  Road, 
Brighton,  but  all  business  will  be  conducted  from  The  National 
Institute  for  the  Blind,  Great  Portland  Street,  London,  W.,  to  which 
all  communications  should  be  addressed. 


Correspondence. 

I  We  reproduce  here  any  letters  of  general  interest  we  may  receive t  whether 
specifically  addressed  to  this  Magazine  or  not.  The  Editor  disclaims  all 
responsibility  for  the  views  of  his  correspondents.} 

THE      PATHOS     OF     THE     WAR. 

[The  writer  of  the  subjoined  letter  whose  son  has  recently  been  killed  at  the 
front,  very  kindly  sent  her  son's  clothing  to  be  distributed  among  the  blind. 
This  clothing  includes  a  dress  suit,  and  any  blind  person  who  can  make  use 
of  it  should  apply  to  the  Secretary-General  of  The  National  Institute. 
Applicant's  measurements  should  be  given. — Editor.] 

Dear  Sir, — It  has  occurred  to  me  that  many  of  the  blind 
whose  affliction  prevents  them  from  serving  in  the  Army  or  Navy 
must  feel  their  disability  very  keenly  at  this  time.  In  case  you  know 
of  any  such  who  might  be  comforted  by  a  message,  I  would  like  to 
send  them  the  folio Aing  few  thoughts  from  the  mother  of  one  of  the 
London  Scottish  who  has  recently  laid  down  his  life  for  his  country. 

I  believe  I  express  the  feeling  of  many  in  testifying  to  the  deeply 
inspiring  example  of  the  blind.  Often  when  dispirited  in  the 
struggle  of  life,  the  thought  of  their  wonderful  attainments,  thus 
handicapped,  has  helped  me  to  renewed  effort.  Especially,  certain 
great  names  among  them  have  always  seemed  like  beacon  lights, 
bringing  conviction  that  everything  is  possible  to  courage  and  talent. 

Above  all,  this  magnificent  spiritual  victory  over  infirmity,  which 
every  cheerful  and  industrious  blind  person  achieves,  has  been  to  me 
a  great  evidence  of  immortality.  As  in  peace  time  the  blind  help 
the  community  through  their  heroism,  now  in  war  we  look  to  them 
for  a  continuance  of  this  brave  steadfastness.  They  also  have  a  great 
opportunity,  in  the  help  they  alone  can  give  to  our  soldiers,  who  have 
given  their  sight  fighting  for  their  country  and  for  freedom. — With 
all  good  wishes,  I  am,  Sir,  Yours  faithfully,  FLORENCE  M.  VANE 
TURNER. 


EMBOSSED      LITERATURE. 

Dear  Sir, — Only  a  couple  of  Sundays  ago  I  heard  the  preacher 
in  a  rural  Scottish  Church  give  expression  to  this  epigrammatic  phrase, 
"  We  never  lose  our  ideals  by  overtaking  them."  This  Sunday  after- 
noon   (7th  March),    I    read    in  my  copy  of  Progress  that    beautiful 


The  Braille  Review.  11 

selection  from  R.  L.  Stevenson,  "  El  Dorado."  In  this  selection  I 
found  the  idea  of  the  preacher  amplified,  and  such  a  sermon  preached 
upon  it  as  stimulated  thought,  and  left  some  lasting  impressions,  I 
hope.  I  trust  that  you  will  be  able  to  find  more  extracts  from 
R.  L.  S.  who  is  always  good,  and  worthy  of  our  best  consideration. 

It  is  pleasant  to  me  to  find,  when  necessity  has  been  laid 
on  me  to  read  with  the  fingers,  that  there  is  some  good  thing  to  be 
had  in  the  Braille  form  of  printing.  In  spite  of  all  the  vapouring 
that  comes  from  some  quarters  as  to  the  size  and  other  points  of  this 
embossed  literature,  I  am  one  who  finds  that  it  is  delightful  as  it  is, 
and  I  was  over  the  hill-top  of  life  ere  I  was  compelled  to  learn  it. 
I  bid  you  God -speed  in  your  work.  I  hope  you  will  not  be  too  much 
influenced  by  much  that  is  sent  you  in  the  way  of  suggestion,  and 
sometimes  of  imperious  demand, — I  am,  etc..  JAMES  ALEXANDER, 
Ythan  Wells,  Insch.,  Aberdeenshire. 


Che  Birmingham  I^oyal  Institution 
for  the  Blind. 

Owing  to  the  increased  cost  of  living  the  Committee  of  this 
Institution  has  decided  to  assist  its  blind  workers  by  means  of  wage 
augmentations  according  to  the  following  scale,  viz. — 

i.     A   woman   whose   wages   and  other  income  do  not  txceed  105. 
a  week — is.  weekly. 

2.  A  single  man  whose  wages  and  other  income  do  not  exceed 

155.  a  week — is.  weekly. 

3.  A  married  man  with  wife  and  no  children,   whose  wages  and 

other  income  do  not  exceed  21s.  a  week — is.  6d.  weekly. 

4.  A  married  man  with  wife  and  family  whose   wages  and  other 

income  do  not  exceed  21s.  a  week,  plus   2s.  a   week  for  each 
child  not  earning — 15.  6d.  a  week,  plus  ^d.  for  each  child  not 
a  wage  earner. 
Under  this  scheme  it  is  felt  that  the  most  needy  casts  of  distress 
will  be  assisted,  but  the  22  workers  receiving  these  grants  have  been 
advised  that  the  allowance  is  a  special  war  bonus,  and  may  be  with- 
drawn by  the  Committee  at  any  time,  at  their  discretion. 


I?enshaw's  Blind  £Isylum  and  the  ttlar. 

At  their  meeting  on  1st  March,  the  Board  of  Management 
resolved — "  That  in  view  of  the  general  increase  which  has  taken 
place  recently  owing  to  the  War  in  the  cost  of  all  necessaries  of  life, 
a  temporary  grant  be  made  to  the  non-resident  blind  workers  of  the 
Charity  of  4s.  per  week  for  married  men,  and  2s.  per  week  for  single 
men,  and  2s.  per  week  for  women,  these  to  be  continued  for  the 
ensuing  six  months  and  reconsidered  at  the  expiration  of  that  period." 


I  2 


The   Braille  Review. 


Inventions. 

AN     INSTRUMENT    FOR    READING    INK-PRINT. 

Attempts  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  to  utilise  the 
peculiar  electrical  properties  of  the  element  selenium  for  the  purpose 
of  enabling  the  blind  to  read  ordinary  letter  press.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  at  the  Conference  last  year,  Dr.  Fournier  d'Albe, 
of  the  Birmingham  University  gave  demonstrations  of  his  apparatus, 
the  Optophone,  which  aroused  much  interest.  By  means  of  a 
powerful  electric  light  the  shadow  of  the  ink-print  letter  is  cast  upon 
the  plate  of  selenium  which  then  emits  varying  sounds  for  the 
different  letters.  A  specimen  of  this  apparatus  has  since  been 
acquired  by  The  National  Institute.  We  have  now  received  par- 
ticulars from  America  of  a  new  instrument  which  instead  of  converting 
the  letters  into  sound,  reproduces  a  much  magnified  image  of  the 
letter  in  relief,  which  can  then  be  recognised  by  touch.  The  following 
descriptive  extract  from  the  inventor's  letter  may  prove  interesting  to 
our  readers: — "The  device  consists  of  an  instrument  which  being 
passed  over  the  type,  reflects  a  magnified  shadow  of  the  type  through 
a  dark  tube,  by  means  of  a  lens,  on  to  a  plate  of  selenium  through 
which  a  current  of  electricity  is  passing.  Selenium  varies  its 
electrical  resistance  in  different  lights.  Above,  and  fused  to  the 
selenium  plate  are  numerous  wires  connected  in  the  circuit  with  small 
electro-magnets.  Where  the  shadow  or  image  of  the  type  falls  on 
the  selenium  the  electrial  resistance  is  greater,  so  that  the  magnets 
connected  to  the  shaded  parts  of  the  selenium  plate  are  supplied 
with  less  current,  making  them  weaker  than  those  magnets  co  nected 
to  the  more  illuminated  parts  of  the  plate.  The  duty  of  the  electro- 
magnet group  is  to  attract  small  iron  pins.  These  pins  are  arranged 
by  spiral  springs  to  fly  down  only  to  those  of  the  magnets  whose 
attracting  force  is  sufficient  to  contract  the  spring,  i.e.,  the  magnets 
receiving  the  strongest  current,  which  are  those  connected  with  the 
selenium  where  most  light  is  thrown.  The  pins  over  the  magnets  in 
the  shadows,  stand  out  in  relief,  so  that  whatever  shadow  is  thrown 
on  the  selenium  plate,  is  reproduced  by  the  pin  heads  over  the  magnet 
group,  and  may  be  traced  with  the  finger  tip." 


Che  I?ome  teaching  Society  for  the  Blind. 

Negotiations  are  practically  complete  whereby  the  Home 
Teaching  Society  will  become  a  Branch  of  The  National  Institute  for 
the  Blind,  and  will  be  housed  in  the  Institute's  new  premises.  Two 
rooms  will  be  set  apart  for  offices,  and  one  whole  floor  for  the 
Society's  library.  The  Home  Teaching  Society,  of  which  Miss  M.  A. 
Gilbert  is  Secretary,  will  continue  to  be  managed  by  its  own  Com- 
mittee, on  which  The  National  Institute  will  be  represented.  The 
National  Institute  for  the  Blind  will  also  assist  the  Home  Teaching 
Society  financially. 


The  Braille  Review.  *3 

ttlar  Service  for  fflomen. 

The  Government  Scheme  of  Industrial  Mobilisation. 

The  Government  have  been  considering  the  problem  of  getting 
women  to  fill  the  places  of  men,  as  far  as  possible,  in  the  ranks  of 
trade  and  industry,  and  so  at  once  to  release  more  and  more  men  for 
the  army,  and  at  the  same  time  maintain  the  efficient  working  of 
essential  trades  at  home.  The  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  has 
now  framed  a  scheme  in  which  he  says  "  The  Government  wish  to 
obtain  particulars  of  the  women  available,  with  or  without  previous 
training,  for  paid  employment.  Accordingly  they  invite  all  women 
who  are  prepared,  if  needed,  to  take  paid  employment  of  any  kind — 
industrial,  agricultural,  clerical,  etc. — to  enter  themselves  upon  the 
Register  of  Women  for  War  Service  which  is  being  prepared  by  the 
Labour  Exchanges.  The  object  of  registration  is  to  find  out  what 
reserve  force  of  women's  labour,  trained  or  untrained,  can  be  made 
available  if  required.  As  openings  for  employment  present  them- 
selves notice,  and  full  particulars  will  be  given  through  the  Labour 
Exchanges.  Any  woman  who  by  working  helps  to  release  a  man  or 
to  equip  a  man  for  fighting  does  national  war  service.  Every  woman 
should  register  who  is  able  and  willing  to  take  employment.  ' 

Wre  have  pleasure  in  calling  our  readers'  attention  to  this  matter, 
as  an  opportunity  is  thus  given  for  blind  women  to  do  their  part  in 
the  service  of  the  country.  They  can  register  as  telephone  operators, 
shorthand  writers  and  typists,  masseuses,  knitters  and  weavers,  or 
for  any  other  work  they  may  be  qualified  and  willing  to  perform. 


exhibition  of  QJork  done  by  the  Blind. 

It  is  proposed  to  hold  at  St.  Leonards-on-Sea,  early  in  June, 
1 91 5,  an  Exhibition  of  Work  done  by  the  blind,  and  all  blind  and 
practically  blind  persons  are  invited  to  send  contributions.  A  few 
Awards  of  Merit  will  be  given,  but  only  those  certified  as  totally 
blind  may  compete. 

Woollen  knitting  or  crochet  is  not  eligible  for  prizes,  but  may 
be  sent  for  sale.  Goods  must  be  sent  carriage  paid,  together  with  an 
addressed,  and  stamped  label  for  return  post  in  case  of  non-sale. 
Returned  goods  will  be  carefully  packed,  but  senders  must  take  their 
own  risk  of  damage. 

Articles  must  be  sent  in  during  the  first  week  in  May  to  Mrs. 
Davidson,  17,  Albany  Road,  St.  Leonards-on-Sea.  Each  article  must 
have  the  name  and  address  of  sender,  with  price,  clearb'  written 
and  securely  attached  to  it. 

All  who  wish  to  exhibit  are  requested  to  send  in  their  names  to 
Mrs.  Davidson,  and  the  date  for  the  Exhibition  will  be  notified  in  the 
May  number  of  the  Braille  Review,  Daily  Mail  (Braille  edition),  and 
Progress. 


'4 


The  Braille  Review. 


WANTED.— a  ST AINSBY- WAYNE  BRAILLE  WRITER,  large  size  with 
interpointing  board,  second-hand — S.  MORRISSKY,  St.  Joseph's  Blind  Asylum, 
Drumcondra,  Dublin. 

COLLEGE  FOR  THE  HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  THE  BLIND, 
WORCESTER. — Public  School  education.  Preparation  for  Universities 
and  Professions.  Modern  side  for  Shorthand,  Bookd-ceeping,  Modern  Lan- 
guages, etc.  Staff  of  University  men  and  specialists.  Prospectus  and  List  of 
Successes  from  Head  Master,  G.  C.  Brown,  M.A. 

Recent  Publications  of 
Ghe  national  Institute  for  the  Blind. 

(NOTE.—"  Post  free"  is  for  INLAND  POSTAGE  ONLY.) 

The  following  books  have  been  prepared  and  adapted  for  the  use  of  the  Blind 
by  H.  M.  Taylor,  Esq.,  M.A.,  J.  P.,  F.R.S.,  and  will  be  published  by  the  Institute 
with  financial  assistance  from  the  Embossed  Scientific  Books  Fund  (of  which  Mr. 
Taylor  is  the  founder)  : — 

A  Treatise  on  Elementary  Hydrostatics,  by  John  Greaves,  M.A. 

2  vols.,  large  size,  interpointed.      Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol. 

Conic  Sections,  by  Charles  Smith.  Vols.  I.  cS:  II.  Large  size, 
interpointed.  Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol.  (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs. 
Macmillan  &  Co.) 


The    Traveller's  Guide    from    Death    to    Life  (Abridged),   by 

Mrs.   Stephen  Menzies.     Large  size,  interpointed.     Price  2s.  6d. 

Piers  Plowman  Histories,  Junior  Book  IV.,  by  J.  J.  Bell,  M.A. 


vols.,  intermediate  size,  interlined. 


Price  2s.  per  vol. 
vols.,    large    size, 


interpointed. 


Princess    Mary's    Gift    Book,    2 

Price  2s.  4a.  per  vol.  post  free. 

Poems  of  the  Great  War,   published  on   behalf  of  the  Prince  of 

Wales'  Fund.  Large  size  interpointed.  Price  3d.,  post  free  4d.  (By  kind 
permission  of  Messrs.  Chatto  &  Windus,  Ltd.) 

Why  we  are  at  War,  by   Members  of  the  Oxford   Faculty  of 

Modern  History.  Large  size,  interpointed,  3  vols.  (Vol.  III.,  principally 
in  French  and  German,  and  containing  the  Russian  Orange  Book  and 
extracts  from  the  Belgian  Grey  Book).  Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol.  (By  kind 
permission  of  The  Oxford  University  Press). 

The  Germans: — l.   Their   Empire:     How  they   made  it,  by 

C.  R.  L.  Fletcher.  (Oxford  Pamphlets,  1914.)  Large  size,  interpointed. 
Price  8d.  post  free.      (By  kind  permission  of  The  Oxford  University  Press). 

The.  Germans  :— 2.  What  they  Covet,   by  C.   R.  L.   Fletcher. 

(Oxford  Pamphlets,  19 14.)  Large  size,  interpointed.  Price  8d.  post  free. 
(By  kind  permission  of  The  Oxford  University  Press). 

Eight   Embossed  Maps,  with  their  explanatory  keys  (extracted  from 

Progress),  and  representing  the  various  war  areas.      Price  8d.,  post  freegd. 

A    Form  of  Intercession  with  Almighty  God,  on  behalf  of  His 

Majesty's  Naval  and  Military  Forces  now  engaged  in  war,  to  be  used  in  all 
churches  and  chapels  in  England  and  Wales  and  in  the  town  of  Bervvick- 
on-Tweed,  is  now  published  in  Braille,  pocket  edition,  price  3d.,  post 
free  4d. 
Comforts  for  Soldiers  and  How  to  Make  them.  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, price  3d.  post  free.  (By  kind  permission  of  the  Editor  of  'Jin- 
Needle-  Worker. ) 


The  Braille  Review. 


15 


RECENT   PUBLICATIONS  {continued). 

Comforts  for  Sailors  and  How  to  Make  them.  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed,  price  40".  post  free.  (By  kind  permission  of  the  Editor  of  The 
Needle-  Worker. ) 

The  Princess,  by  Tennyson.  Large  Size,  interpointed  (new  edition 
in  Revised  Braille).      Price  2S.,  post  free  2s.  id. 

Selections  from  Whitaker's  Almanack,  1915.  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, price  is.  post  free. 

Scripture  Union  Portions.  1915.     Price  4d.  post  free  sd. 

The  Lilac  Sun-Bonnet,  by  S.  R.  Crockett.     3  vols.,  large  size, 

interpointed.      Price  3s.   per  vol.      (By  kind  permission   of  Mr.  T.   Fisher 
Unwin). 

The  Osbornes,  by  E.  F.  Benson.  In  Grade  III.,  large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 2  vols.     Price  3s.  6d.  per  vol. 

Richard  III.  (Shakespeare,  Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 1  vol.     Price  3s.  6d. 

Macbeth  (Shakespeare— Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  interpointed, 
I  vol.      Price  2s. 

King  John  (Shakespeare — Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 1  vol.     Price  2s. 

Hamlet  (Shakespeare — Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  interpointed, 
I  vol.      Price  3s.  3d. 

Odd,  by  Amy  Le  Feuvre  (Reprinted  from  Progress).  1  vol.,  large 
size,  interpointed.     Price  3s.  oxl. 

The  Articles  of  Religion,  from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
Small  size,  interlined,  price  is.  post  free  is.  id. 

A  Book  of  Prayers  for  Morning  and  Evening  Services  and  Holy 
Communion.      Pocket  size,  interpointed,  price  6d,  post  free. 

101    French    Proverbs,  by    Mdlle   Thirion,  LL.A.     Pocket   size, 

interpointed.      Price  6d.  post  free. 

Justification,  by  Sidney  Collett  (reprinted  from  Chan?iels  of 
Blessing).     Price  4d.,  post  free  5d. 

Conversion,    What   is    it  ?  *    by  F.  Gillet   Cory.       Pocket  size, 

interpointed.      Price  8d.,  post  free  oxl.      (Reprinted  from  The  Life  of  Faith.) 

Skeleton  German  Grammar,  by  H.  G.  Atkins,  M.A.     Large  size, 

interpointed,  1  vol.      Price  2s.  6d. 
Exercises  to  ditto.      Large  size,  interpointed,  1  vol.     Price  3s.  6d. 
Guide    to    Auction    Bridge,    with    Royal    Spades,   by   F:.   I.    F 

Williamson.     Pocket  size,  interpointed.      Price  is.  6d.,  post  free  is.  "jA. 

Manual  of   Plainsong,  by  H.  B.  Briggs  and  W.  H.  Frere.     Large 

size,  interpointed,  5  vols..     Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol.     (By  kind  permission  of 
Messrs.  Novello  &  Co.,  Ltd.) 

Interpretation  in  Song,  by  Harry  Plunket  Greene.     Large  size, 

interpointed,  small  character,  2  vols.      Price  2s.  oxl.  per  vol. 

Rule  Britannia  and  The  National  Anthems  of  the  Allies.  Inter- 
mediate size,  interlined.  Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.  (By  kind  permission  of 
Messrs.  J.  Curwen  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  and  Messrs.  G.  Schirmer,  Ltd.) 

On  the  Mississippi  (Two-Step,  Dance  Music),  by  Carroll  and 
FIELDS.  Arr.  by  JOHN  Nrat.  Price  3d.,  post  free  4d.  (By  kind  per- 
mission of  Messrs.  B.  Feldman  &  Co.) 


i6 


The  Braille  Review. 


RECENT  PUBLICATIONS  [continued). 

Secrets    (Intermezzo,    Dance    Music),  by  Charles    W.  Ancliffe. 
Price  3d.,  post     free  4c!.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Hawkes  &  Son.) 

Hail,     Gladdening     Light    (Anthem),    by    George    C.    Martin. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 

The  Day  is  past  and  over  (Anthem),  by  J.  Christopher  Marks. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 

Oh  !  for  a  closer  walk  with  God  (Anthem),  by  Myles  B.  Foster. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 

Remember   now   thy  Creator  (Anthem),  by  Charles  Steggall. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  7d.      (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 


From   The  Star    Folio   of  Music,    by   kind    permission   of   Messrs. 
W.  Paxton  &  Co.,  Ltd.  :— 

Chanson    Triste  (Piano),  by   P.    Tschaikowsky.     Price    3d.,    post 
free  40. 

Chant  sans  Paroles  (Piano),  by  P.  Tschaikowsky.     Price  3d.,  post 

free  4d. 
Coronation    March    (Piano),  by  G.  Meyerbeer.     Price  3d.,  post 

free  4d. 
Crescendo  (Piano),  per  Lasson.     Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
Edelweiss  (Piano),  by  Gustav  Lange.     Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
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a* 


&  - 


r-     -  - 


American     Loses    Eyes,    Wins     Prized 

k  Medal  Fc  His  Bravery. 
w  annex  for  soldiers  who  have  lost, 
r  sight  during  the  war  was  opened 
ntly  in  the  ancient  Asylum  Quinze 
Vingts,  which  was  founded  in  the  year 
1260  by  Louis  IX.  (St.  Louis),  after 
some  300*  of  his  followers  had  been 
blinded  in  his  crusades.  Among  the 
first  20  men  admitted  to  the  annex 
was  a  young  American  named  Joseph 
A  mar. 

I  years  uld  and  was  born  in 
Washington,  D.  C.  Amar  was  at  Ly 
ons  working  for  an  electrical  company 
when  the  war  began.  He  enlisted  ii 
the  Foreign  Legion  and  took  part  in 
dangerous  scouting  tasks,  and  was  es 
pecially  skilful  in  throwing  hand  gre- 
nades into  German  trenches.  He  lost 
both  his  eyes  by  the  premature  burst 
ing  of  a  grenade  thrown  by  a  comrade 
The  military  medal,  which  is  reserved 
for  the  "heroes  of  France"  has  been 
awarded  Amar.  "I  am  glad  to  have 
for  France,  and  for  the  justice  of  the 
French  cause,"  said  Amar. 

The  director  of  the  hospital  says 
the  youth  has  never  uttered  a  word  ot 
regret  at  the  loss  of  his  eyes.  He  'wil1 
be  educated  in  reading  and  writing  in 
the  manner  taught  blind  persons,  and 
also  will  be  permitted  to  adopt  any 
handicraft  which  he  may  select.  Amar 
spends  his  time  now  entertaining  his 
comrades  by  playing  the  mandolin 


B 


Hastet  Mmmitmt 


TUESDAY,  APRIL  13,  1915 


There  are  already  fifty  blind  soldiers?, 
including  three  officers,  at  the  home  of 
Otto  Kahn,  the  American  banker,  at  Re- 
gents Park,  St.  Dunstans,  London.  Mr. 
Kahn  turned  his  residence  over  to  the 
Red  Cross  society  some  time  ago  for  the 
use  of  soldiers  who  had  lost  their  eyes. 
The  Kahn  estate  includes  about  fifteen 
acres  of  grounds,  with  various  small 
buildings  which  will  be  used  for  train- 
ing-rooms and  workshops.  There  is  also 
a  small  lake  on  which  the  blind  men  will 
be  allowed  to  row.  The  sightless  sol- 
diers will  receive  preliminary  instruc- 
tion in  carpentry,  boot  repairing,  mat 
making,  basket  weaving,  telephone  oper- 
ating, massage,  poultry  farming,  and 
market  gardening,  an  effort  being  made 
to  find  for  each  man  the  occupation  to 
which  he  is  best  adapted.  The  cost  of 
running  the  institution  will  be  met  by 
the  Red  Cross,  the  National  Institute  for 
the   Blind   and   the   Order   of   St.    John. 


v\^  ,     YWa^S  S.>     GL  k  *"     _  ^,y~. 


PL  i- 


i    \-    i   [15 


MANY  SOLDIERS  ARE    4,     ** 
MADE  BLIND  BY  WOUNDS 

PARIS,  April  W.-TTfr-Sendral,  who  has 
made  a  study  "of  firearm  wounds  as  af- 
fecting the  sight,  declares  that  the  former 
proportion  of  12  p.c.  to  15  p.c.  of  wounds  in 
the  head  has  been  increased  in  the  present 
war.  He  attributes  it  in  part  to  the  war 
of  trenches  and  in  part  to  the  increased 
effectiveness  of  shell  fire. 

The  destruction  of  sight  is  in  the  greater 
number  of  cases  the  indirect  result  of 
wounds. 

There  are  a  great  many  cases  of  what 
Dr.  Sendral  calls  hysterical  blindness.  Men 
are  frequently  struck  blind  as  well  as  deaf 
and  dumb  by  shock. 


4 


vu  *\, 


*-.*.,    V\e 


o 


-  V  L, 


15-    i  1  1 5 . 


*~»^ 


TURNED  ESTATE  OVER 

TO  BLIND  SOLDIERS 

There  are  already  50  blind  sol- 
diers, including  three  officers,  at 
the  home  of  Otto  Kahn,  the  Amer- 
ican banker,  at  Regent's  park,  St. 
Dunstan's,  England.  Mr.  Kahn 
turned  his  residence  over  to  the 
Red  Cross  society  some  time  ago 
for  the  use  of  soldiers  who  had  lost 
their  eyes. 

The  Kahn  estate  includes  about 
15  acres  of  grounds,  with  various 
small  buildings,  which  will  be  used 
for  training-rooms  and  workshops. 
There  is  also  a  small  lake  or 
which  the  blind  men  will  be  al- 
lowed to  row. 

The  sightless  soldiers  will  re- 
ceive preliminary  instruction  in 
carpentry,  boot  repairing,  mat  mak- 
ing, basket  weaving,  telephone 
operating,  massage,  poultry  farm- 
ing and  market  gardening,  an  ef- 
fort being  made  to  find  for  each 
man  the  occupation  to  which  he  is 
best  adapted.  The  cost  of  running 
the  institution  will  be  met  by  the 
Red  Cross,  the  National  Institute 
for  the  Blind  and  the  order  of  St. 
.J.ftim.-. ,■<.» ■ ' mmmm- 


v  <2»  \j^J 


V 


SMILES  FROM  TEARS  OF 
WAR  IN  PARIS  CHARITIES 

WH^T  JjT  BEING  DONE  FOR  MEN 
BLINDED  BY  BULLETS. 


Chair-Bottoming,  Basket  and  Brush 
Making  the  Fate  in  Store  for  Many- 
Heroes  of  the  Republic  —  Army 
Medical  Service  Providing  Face-Re- 
pair Shops  for  Those  Men  Whose 
Features  Have  Been  Obliterated  in 
Battle — Nurses  and  the  Wounded. 


[Special   Correspondence  of   The  Evening  Post.] 

Paris,  April  10. — Nowadays,  in  Paris 
and  throughout  France,  the  tender  char- 
ity which  tries  to  bring  smiles  from  the 
tears  of  war  is  beyond  reckoning.  Each 
trouble  has  its  own  work  for  aid  and 
comfort.  For  example,  there  are  the 
"Friends  of  Blind  Soldiers."  Blinded,  it 
should  be  said,  for  these  soldiers  have 
lost  their  eyes  from  shot  and  shell.  The 
bursting  of  shrapnel  is  particularly  to 
blame,  and  nothing  like  it  has  been  seen 
in  former  wars.  Now  these  Friends  have 
been   organized: 

First,  to  teach  these  blind  men  of  war 
some  trade  which  willejj^»!#^nem  to 
earn  a  living  wage  in  time  of  peace. 

Second,  to  bring  them  back  to  their' 
original  homes  and  aid  them  to  found  a 
home  of  their  own. 

Ferdinand  Lotz,  who  is  himself  blind, 
is  a  leader  in  the  work;  and  he  knows 
whereof    he    speaks.      So    far,    the    blind 


have  been  restricted  to  a  few  common 
trades  for  making  a  living.  They  are 
taught  to  work  at  basket  and  brush  mak- 
ing, at  chair  bottoming,  and  at  piano 
tuning,  and  music.  Here  in  Paris,  there 
is  a  very  original  Blind  Men's  Club,  built 
up  by  Maurice  de  La  Sizeranne — a  blind 
man  of  family  and  great  cultivation,  who 
has  devoted  his  life  to  those  of  his  kind. 
Apart  from  its  social  advantages,  it  has 
a  very  miscellaneous  workshop,  in  which 
nearly  everything  probable  or  possible  is 
tried.  In  face  of  the  present  multiplica- 
tion of  blind  men,  who  are  in  their  prime 
and  accustomed  to  seeing  during  busy 
lives,  new  outlets  for  their  wage-earning 
activities  have  to  be  sought. 


BLIND   MAN  IN  NEWSPAPER  OFFICE. 

An  effort  is  being  made  to  open  to 
them  certain  telephone  services  at  the 
Postal  Department  and  in  other  great 
public  and  private  administrations.  In  a 
newspaper  of  the  south  of  France — Le 
Petit  Meridional  of  Montpellier — a  blind 
man  has  for  ten  years  done  a  great  va- 
riety of  the  daily  work.  He  receives 
communications  by  telephone  and  records 
them  by  dictaphone  and  the  typewriting 
machine  for  the  press.  i 

In  France,  the  State  can  .supply  many 
places  in  its  national  manufactures.  In 
the  tobacco  monopoly,  the  blind  can 
make  cigarettes  and  even  cigars.  As  this 
state  monopoly  has  to  furnish  the  smok- 
ers of  all  France  with  their  variety  of 
weed,  the  number  ofworkmen  employed 
may  be  imagined.  The  state  monopoly 
has  its  factories  in  every  region.  There 
is  no  reason  why  blind  men  should  not 
fill  many  vacancies.  It  is  the  same  for 
ranging  cartridges  in  the  Government 
arsenals  and  factories. 

To  such  labor  openings  are  now  to  be 
added  certain  routine  packing  and  weigh- 
ing. Some  blind  men  have  already  be- 
come expert  turners  and  cabinet-mak- 
ers; and  they  succeed  as  shoemakers  in 
heavy  lines.  Others  engage,  with  a  little 
help,  in  farm  work.  In  commerce,  they 
have  found  means  to  do  typewriting  and 
stenography,  and  even  to  make  their  way 
in  commercial  representation.  Teaching 
and  the  translation  of  foreign   languages 


are  still  within  the  capacities  of  the  edu- 
cated. It  may  be  remembered  that  the 
chief  living  authority  on  Montaigne  and 
a  copious  author  in  the  very  technical 
line  of  literary  texts  is  the  blind  pro- 
fessor,  Pierre  Villey. 

TOY     AND    DOLLrMAKING. 

The  Friends  do  not  speak  of  another 
veritable  profession  which  is  growing  In 
popular  favor  in  our  age  of  medical  san- 
itation. This  is  massage,  which  has  al- 
ready been  practiced  with  unusual  suc- 
cess by  the  blind,  and  with  very  obvious 
advantages.  The  veteran  Republican,  Er- 
nest Vaughan,  who  had  given  much 
thought  to  the  subject,  claimed  that  he 
had  found  work  for  the  blind  in  mat- 
tress-making and  heavy  cordage,  and  in 
the  mounting  of  bicycle  wheels.  Other 
suitable  industries  for  them  are  being 
sought.  A  great  lady  of  the  world,  an 
anonymous  baroness,  has  already  started 
a  league  for  toy  and  doll-making  by  the 
blind.  The  stuffing  of  dolls  alone  employs 
many  persons,  and  it  seems  the  blind  do 
it  perfectly  and  artistically. 

The  blind  cannot  be  given  back  their 
eyes,  and  all  effort  is  concentrated  or 
finding  work  for  them  in  which  their 
other  senses  and  their  intelligence  can 
be  made  to  take  the  place  of  eyes.  Other 
defects  from  wounds  in  battle  can  be  re- 
paired in  a  measure.  Ever  since  the 
month  of  November  the  army  medical 
service  has  provided  a  number  of  "face- 
repair  shops"  for  the  disfigured  wounded. 
The  partial,  sometimes  the  all  but  total, 
destruction  of  the  human  face  from  these 
modern  wounds  would  handicap  the 
whole  activity  of  the  man,  and  weigh 
terribly  on  his  spirits,  even  if  he  were 
left  otherwise  able-bodied.  And  it  must 
be  said  that  many  of  the_German  bullets, 
without  being  technically  what  are  called 
"dum-dum" — that  is,  expansive — are 
really  explosive,  and  mutilate  as  well 
as  wound.  Oftenest,  there  are  the  mis- 
deeds of  pieces  of  shrapnel. 

These  face-repairs  have  to  be  made 
speedily  if  at  all,  and  on  this  account 
the  work  has  been  centralized  in  the 
reat  militar-  hospitals  of  Paris,  Lyons, 
and  Bordeaux.  It  is  astonishingly  suc- 
cessful.     Among    the    surgeons      of      the 


American  Ambulance  there  are  several 
face  and  jaw  specialists.  An  American 
doctor  is  at  the  head  of  a  soecial  auxil- 
iary hospital  for  the  purpose  in  the 
Champs  Elysees.  And  in  general  all  the 
ablest  French  dental  surgeons  and  work- 
ers have  been  applied  to  such  cases 
where  the  jaw  is  concerned.  The  special- 
ists for  complete  face-rebuilding  are,  of 
course,  much  rarer — and  they  are  all 
busy.  Sometimes  entire  bony  parts  have 
to  be  replaced — and  scars  have  to  be 
made  as  slightly  disfiguring  as  possible. 

WORKS   OF   CARREL   AND    SEBILEAU. 

After  the  best  work,  two  generations 
to  come  will  ha^e  constantly  before  their 
eyes  striking  signs  of  the  murderous 
character  of  this  war.  It  is  consoling 
that  the  works  of  peace — Carrel's  graft- 
ing, Sebileau's  sinus  surgery,  and  Frey's 
redressing  of  dental  malformation — had 
prepared  means  for  this  work,  which  is 
perhaps  not  the  least  charity  to  war's, 
many  victims. 

Another  of  these  curious  good  works 
to  help  invalid  soldiers  back  to  their 
place  in  human  society — after  the  war 
— is  entitled  a  "National  Club."  When 
these  glorious  invalids  leave  the  hospital, 
or  the  "reeducating  school,"  where  they 
learn  new  trades  or  to  do  the  old  ones 
in  new  ways,  and  when  their  new  work 
is  over  for  the  day  in  offices  or  shops 
or  factories,  this  free  club  is  to  be  put 
at  their  disposition  for  society's  sake. 
Branches  are  to  be  opened  in  all  cities 
and  towns  important  enough  to  have  a 
centre  of  the  "National  Federation  of 
Aid  for  Mutilated  Land  or  Sea  Soldiers." 
At  such  clubs,  they  will  not  only  meet 
their  former  army  chiefs  and  comrades. 
It  is  intended  that  the  Red  Cross  and 
other  women  nurses  shall  keep  up  ac- 
quaintance through  these  clubs  with 
their  wounded  charges  of  to-day. 

A    NOVEL   VENTURE. 

With  the  years  such  social  intercourse 
may  gradually  cease;  but  that  it  should 
even  for  a  time  be  a  fruit  of  dreadful 
war  is  a  slight  compensation.  For  all 
enters  into  the  shaking  together  and 
permanent  blending  of  the  different 
classes  of  Frenchmen,  whom  peace  with 
its  social  differences  had  too  often  kept 
aloof   from    each    other. 


It  is  intended  that  these  clubs  should 
also  serve  as  a  means  of  mutual  aid  and 
friendly  watch  over  those  who  have 
been  partially  disabled  and  may  easily 
need  help  again.  The  honorary  presi- 
dent is  the  veteran  Gen.  Niox,  com- 
manding- at  the  invalldes  in  Paris.  The 
active  president  is  the  young  Senator 
Herriot,  who  has  given  signs  of  effi- 
ciency as  Mayor  of  Lyons.  It  is  a  novel 
social  venture — but  It  Is  the  social 
changes  and  efficiencies  resulting  from 
this  war  which  will  most  astonish  the 
world  to  come  after  it. 

Let   war  and   trade   and   creeds  and  song 

Blend,   ripen  race  on  race; 
The  sunburnt  world  a  man  shall  breed 
Of  all  the  zones  and  countless  days. 

S.   D.^ 


Ma.V^-Tr-LiUU,  YlA^i,,  Qi  a,  ■*.€/&£  < 


Otto  Kahn,  the  Banker,  Turns 

Over  London  Home  for 

Care  of  Soldiers 


There  are  already  50  blind  soldiers,  in- 
cluding three  officers,  at  the  home  of 
Otto  Kahn,  the  American  banker,  at 
egents  park,  St.  Dunstan's,  London. 
Mr.  Kahn  turned  his  residence  over  to 
the  Red  Cross  society  some  time  ago  far 
the  use  of  soldiers  who  had  lost  their 
eyes. 

The  Kahn  estate  includes  about  15 
acres  of  grounds,  with  various  small 
buildings  which  will  be  used  for  training 
rooms  and  workshops.  There  is  also  a 
small  lake  on  which  the  blind  men  will 
be  allowed  to  row. 

The  sightless  soldiers  will  receive  pre- 
liminary instruction  in  carpentry,  boot 
repairing,  mat  making,  basket  weaving, 
telephone  operating,  massage,  poultry 
farming,  and  market  gardening,  an  effect 
being  made  to  find  for  each  man  the 
occupation  to  which  he  is  best  adapted. 
The  cost  of  running  the  institution  will  be 
met  by  the  Red  Cross,  the  National  In- 
stitute for  the  Blind  and  the  Order  of  SU 
John^  ,  , 


IT  , 


. 


There  are  already  fifty  blind  sol- 
diers, including  three  officef£T*aft  the 
tome  of  Otto  Kahn,  the  American 
>anker,  at  Regents  Park,  St.  Dunstans, 
iOndon.  Mr.  Kahn  turned  his  resi- 
lence  over  to  the  Red  Cross  society 
some  time  ago  for  the  use  of  soldiers 
who  had  lost  their  eyes.  The  Kahn 
estate  includes  about  fifteen  acre*  of 
grounds,  with  various  small  buildings 
which  will  be  used  for  training-rooms 
and  workshops.  There  is  also  a 
small  lake  on  which  the  blind  men 
will  be  allowed  to  row.  The  sightless 
soldiers  will  receive  preliminary  in- 
struction in  carpentry,  boot  repairing. 
mat  making,  basket  weaving,  tele- 
phone operating,  massage,  poultry 
farming,  and  market  gardening,  an  ef- 
fort being  made  to  find  for  each  man 
the  occupation  to  which  he  is  best 
adapted.  The  cost  of  running  the  in- 
stitution will  be  met  by  the  Red  Cross, 
the  National  Institute  for  the  Blind 
and  +he  Order  of  St.  John. 


B 


O  V\^- 


- 


; 


k  ^  s 


-   - 


* 


\  < « 


Special  soldier-relief  funds  for  the 
care  of  the  h1l'n^|  fifft  among  the  new 
est  specially  designated  charitable 
projects.  Paying  for  the  real  horror  ha* 
begun.  The  earlier  collections  foi 
buying  tobacco  and  other  commoi 
comforts  seem  long  ago,  now. 


TUESDAY,  MAY  4,  1915 


A   Future   Made    Possible 
for   Men   Blinded   in   tbe    War 

THE  blinded  soldier  is  a  figure  of 
tragedy.  He,  who  belonged  yesterday 
to  the  adventurous,  is  today  a 
prisoner  of  despondency.  His  world  has 
fallen  In  ruins;  and,  unless  he  will  relin- 
quish all  claim  upon  It,  he  must  build  it 
again  from  the  foundations  with  unskilful 
hands.  He  cannot  accomplish  this  with- 
out help  and  encouragement;  experience 
has  shown  that  help  from  those  who  have 
faced  a  like  calamity  to  his  own  is  of 
greater  worth  to  him  than  any  other. 

Help  for  the  blind  by  the  blind  is  the 
working  principle  of  the  institution  opened 
by  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care 
Committee  at  St.  Dunstan's,  Regent's  Park. 
That  principle,  in  its  application,  has  made 
St.  Dunstan's  one  of  the  most  interesting 
places  in  London.  It  has  lightened  the 
sadness,  which,  more  actual  even  than  the 
imprint  of  pain,  though  much  more  elusive, 
lingers  in  the  faces  of  the  men  who  are 
learning  here  how  to  begin  life  once  more 
at  the  beginning,  and  to  discount  misfor- 
tune and  defat  memory  oy  new  achieve- 
ment / 

The  object  of  the  work  is  to  teach  every 
blind  soldier  a  trade  by  which  he  may  ex- 
pect to  earn  his  living,  and  to  introduce 
him  at  the  same  time  to  the  Braille  sys- 
tem of  reading  and  writing.  Blind  instruc- 
tors have  been  engaged  in  every  instance. 
These  men  are  among  the  most  capable 
workers  in  the  country,  and  their  energy 
and  enthusiasm  are  an  immediate  incentive 
to  effort.  The  knowledge  that  other  men 
have  "made  good"  in  spite  of  their  blind- 
ness is  therefore  the  first  lesson  which  the 
blind  soldier  receives.  There  is  generally 
in  his  character  a  quality  of  determina- 
tion which,  thus  aroused,  may  be  counted 
upon  to  achieve  success. 

St.  Dunstan's,  Regent's  Park,  which  was 
lent  to  the  committee  by  Mr.  Otto  Kahn, 
is  a  very  large  house  standing  in  fifteen 
acres  of  ground.  Thanks  to  this  latter 
circumstance,  it  has  been  found  possible  to 
include  poultry  farming  and  market 
gardening  among  the  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion. This  country  life  section  has  been 
taken  over  by  Captain  Pierson-Webber.  one 


of  the  best-known  blind  experts  in  Eng- 
land. Captain  Pierson-Webber's  life  is  it- 
self a  romance  of  successful  endeavor 
against  heavy  odds;  he  has  proved  that  a 
"blind  man  may.  without  previous  know- 
ledge, compete  with  experts  on  their  own 
ground;  his  work  in  connection  with  poul- 
try farming  is  known  throughout  the 
agricultural    world. 

Many  very  wonderful  devices  have  been 
introduced  by  him  into  the  model  farm 
which  he  is  now  conducting.  The  arrange- 
ments of  gates  and  pens,  of  railings  and 
coops,  reveal  extraordinary  ingenuity.  A 
'blind  man.  by  means  of  them,  is  enabled 
to  conduct  the  farm  with  entire  success, 
to  catch  any  fowl  he  may  desire,  to  drive 
his  birds  from  one  plot  of  ground  to  an- 
other to  collect  eggs,  and  generally  su- 
perintend everything.  Captain  Pierson- 
TVebber  was  a  soldier  himself  before  he  be- 
came blind,  and  therefore  is  especially  well 
qualified  to  help  the  men  who  are  receiv- 
ing instruction  from   him. 

Inside  the  house,  in  a  large  conservatory, 
work-tables  have  been  arranged  for  the 
teaching  of  carpentry,  boot— repairing, 
■mat-making,  and  basket-making.  At  the 
carpenter's  bench  a  young  fellow  who  lost 
his  sight  on  the  Aisne  may  be  seen  com- 
pleting his  first  picture-frame.  Tt  did  his 
Instructor  and  himself  credit.  In  this  case 
blindness  was  caused  by  a  bullet  whicn 
passed  from  one  side  of  the  forehead  to 
the  other,  injuring  the  optic  nerves.  Near 
him  another  young  soldier,  a  victim  of 
bursting  shrapnel,  is  having  his  first  lesson 
In  drilling  with  a  brace.  That  he  was  en- 
tering into  the  spirit  of  the  work  was 
obvious  from  his  cheerful  expression,  yet 
only  a  short  time  ago  he  returned  from  a 
German  prison,  broken  down  in  nealth 
and  without  hope  for  the  future.  The 
bootmakers  are  very  busy  ineed,  and  their 
work  defied  fault-finding.  So  also  were 
the   mat-makers. 

In  another  room  Is  a  massage  class. 
"Massage  is  one  of  those  very  useful  occu- 
pations at  which  blind  people  are  found  to 
excel.  In  view  of  the  widespread  need  for 
this  treatment  which  the  war  has  pro- 
duced and  is  producing,  no  better  lesson 
could  be  taught  or  learned.  The  large 
'Braille  room  is  full  of  pupils,  some  of  them 
being  instructed  in  the  elements  of  the 
alphabet;  others  at  work  on  the  ingenious 
Braille  typewriters.  Everywhere  one  meets 
the  spirit  of  hope  and  cheerfulness,  umil 
the  impression  of  pathos  gave  place  to  an 
enduring  sense  of  admiration.  Here  surely 
is  a  nobler  courage  even  than  the  fierce 
bravery    of    war. 

When  their  period  of  instruction  is  over 
it  is  hoped  that  it  will  be  possihle  to  place 
men    in    permanent    positions,    and    a    lang& 


:»■.•    'A-^.,  4. 


t» 


grant  has  been  made  by  the  Prince  ot 
Wales's  Fund  towards  this  purpose.  The 
actual  cost  of  running-  the  hostel  is  borne 
by  the  National  Institute  for  the  Blind,  the 
Red  Cross  Society  and  the  Order  of  St. 
John. 

A  great  part  of  the  credit  for  this  splen- 
did undertaking  belongs  to  Mr.  C.  Arthur 
Pearson,  whose  interest  in  his  fellow-suf- 
ferers from  blindness  is  so  well  known 
Under  Mr.  Pearson's  direction  the  grounds 
of  the  house  have  been  specially  prepared 
for  the  comfort  of  the  soldiers.  All  step- 
ways  and  dangerous  places  have  been  sur- 
rounded by  wooden  borads,  so  that  the 
altered  resistance  to  the  foot  may  give 
warning  of  their  presence.  He  has  also 
encouraged  the  use  of  the  lake,  which  com- 
municates with  that  in  Regent's  Park 
Blind  men  are  generally  fond  of  rowing, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  few  outdoor  sports  in 
which  they  can  participate.  "A  iblind  man 
feels,"  Mr.  Pearson  said,  "that  when  he  is 
rowing  a  boat  he  is  conducting  other  peo- 
ple, and  not,  as  at  other  times,  'being  con- 
ducted toy  them." 

It  is  this  attitude  of  sympathy  and  this 
comprehension  of  the  psychological  prob- 
lem to  be  solved  that  endows  the  work  at 
St.  Dunstan's  with  so  much  value  and  at- 
traction. 

Two  inmates  who  were  blinded  in  the 
fighting  at  Yrres  are  seen  being  led  about 
the  grounds  by  one  of  the  London  society 
ladies  who  helped  establish  the  hospital. 
On  April  19  Queen  Alexandra  paid  a 
visit  with  Princess  Victoria  the  Princess 
Royal,  and  Princess  Maud,  to  the  hospital. 
Her  Majesty  was  conducted  round  the 
building,  visiting  the  workrooms  where  the 
men  were  learning  various  useful  trades,, 
and  showed  keen  interest  in  all  she  saw. 
Queen  Alexandra  chatted  with  the  men 
and  expressed  her  amazement  at  the  prog- 
ress they  have  made  and  their  cheerfulness 
and  good  spirits.  To  each  she  presented 
a  large  bunch  of  primroses, 'tied  with  red, 
white  and  blue  ribbons. 


T-        /      P    ^  JT~g  \  W„.,         ,  Y^ 


^T- 


^  ^x~  ^>  ^  ,  .r. 


Pathetic  Scene  in  Grounds  of  a  London  Hospital, 


CARiHG   fOR  6Uiyfli&«S0LPIERS» 

tl     iii     binpland     is 
been   blinded    in   1  a   parti 

ed  in  n    the   fighting 

at    Y,  being  led  "f   tllP   London   so- 


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2s.  post  free, 
per  annum. 


Braille 
Review 


A     MONTHLY      MAGAZINE      DEVOTED     TO     THE 
::       INTERESTS     OF     THE     BLIND.       ::        :: 


VOL.  XIII. 


MAY,  1915. 


Xo.   5. 


STAINSBY-WAYNE 
BRAILLE    SHORTHAND     TYPEWRITER. 


Shorthand  Machine  £5  5s.        Polished  Walnut   Case  £1    5s. 
Rolls  of  Paper,  5d.  per  lb. 

(For  details,  see  illustrated  leaflet  to  be  obtained  on  application  to 
The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind,  Great  Portland  St.,  London,  W.) 


S 


m 

m 
m 


8k 


Sk" 


m 
m 


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mmmmmmmmmmmmmmsmmmmm 


THE    "H.  S."    WATCH. 


Figures  3,  6,  9,  and  12  indicated  by  raised  bars,  the  intervening 
figures    by   dots. 


PRICKS  : 

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,,         ,,        Lady's  size 
Nickel  Case,  Lady  or  Gentleman's  size 
Gun  Metal  Case,  Gentlemen's  size 


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The    Braille    Review. 

A     MONTHLY     MAGAZINE     DEVOTED    TO 
::     THE     INTERESTS    OF    THE    BLIND.     :: 


Vol.  XIII. 


MAY,    19 1 5. 


No.  5. 


BIOGRAPHIES  OF  THE  BLIND,     No.   II. 

Dr.  T.  R.  Armitage. 

THE  name  of  Thomas  Rhodes  Armitage  will  always  occupy  a  fore- 
most place  on  the  honourable  roll  of  those  who  have  devoted 
themselves  to  ameliorating  the  lot  of  the  blind. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to-day  to  realise  the  apathetic  and  chaotic  state 
of  affairs  in  the  blind  world  in  Fmgland  during  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  A  few  schools  and  institutions  for  the  blind  there 
were,  it  is  true,  but  there  was  no  real  co-operation  between  them  ;  each 
acted  and  taught  according  to  its  own  ideas  without  reference  to  the 
others  ;  several  different  systems  of  embossed  type  were  in  use,  so  that 
no  general  literature  for  the  blind  was  possible  :  there  was  but  little 
training  in  music,  the  one  art  more  suitable  than  any  other  for  the 
blind  ;  and  there  were  no  organisations  for  the  after-care  "  and  general 
aid  of  students  leaving  the  schools.  It  is  to  the  earnest  and  self- 
sacrificing  efforts  of  Dr.  Armitage  that  the  blind  owe  the  introduction 
and  general  adoption  of  Braille  and  also  the  initiation  of  those  two 
great  Institutions  which  have  done  so  much  to  revolutionise  the  education, 
and  social  welfare  of  the  blind,  viz.  :  The  National  Institute  for  the 
Blind  (formerly  The  British  and  Foreign  Blind  Association),  and  the 
Royal  Normal  College  and  Academy  of   Music  for  the  Blind. 

A  branch  of  the  old  Yorkshire  family  of  Armitage  resided  at 
Tilgate  Hall  in  Sussex,  and  here  Thomas  Rhodes  Armitage,  the  sixth 
of  seven  brothers,  was  born  in  1824.  When  he  was  seven  years  of  age 
the  family  removed  to  Avranches  in  Normandy,  and  two  years  later  to 
Frankfurt.  At  that  place,  shortly  afterwards,  he  had  a  severe  attack  of 
typhoid  fever,  and  his  life  was  despaired  of.  Owing  to  the  devoted 
nursing  of  his  mother,  however,  he  recovered,  but  unfortunately  she 
herself  contracted  fever  and  died  of  it. 

In  1834  Thomas  and  his  younger  brother  were  sent  to  school  at 
Offenbach,  in  Germany,  where  the)  remained  for  two  years  and  acquired 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  German  language.  Then,  after  a  short 
visit  to  Fmgland  the  family  settled  in  Paris,  and  the  two  boys  attended 
the  lectures  at  the  Sorbonne. 

In  1838  his  father  rented  one  of  the  Crown  forests  in  Brittany  for 
shooting,  and  Thomas  spent  his  time  wandering  about  the  woods 
absorbed    in  the   studv  of  botanv.      Fie  was  an  ardent  lover  of  nature,  a 


The  Braille  Review. 


love  which  never  forsook  him,  and  which  was  the  source  of  much 
comfort  and  joy  to  him  in  his  later  years  when  he  was  deprived  of  sight. 
This  taste  for  science  doubtless  determined  his  choice  of  medicine  as 
his  profession,  and  accordingly  in  1840  he  entered  King's  College, 
London,  as  a  medical  student.  Here  he  pursued  his  studies  with  untiring 
energy,  and  at  the  same  time  read  English  and  foreign  literature  widely, 
thus  laying  the  foundation  of  that  culture  which  so  distinguished  him 
in  after  life. 

At  this  point  we  find  the  first  indications  of  eye  trouble.  His 
sight  had  never  been  strong,  and  after  12  months  of  incessant  strain 
caused  by  so  much  reading  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  work  for  a 
long  holiday,  in  order  to  give  his  eyes  a  complete  rest.  Two  years  later 
he  was  able  to  resume  his  studies,  and  in  due  course  obtained  his 
diploma  as  surgeon.  At  a  later  date  he  took  his  degree  of  M.D., 
London,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians.  For 
a  time  he  acted  as  physician  to  the  Marylebone  Dispensary,  and  then 
went  out  to  the  Crimea  as  army  surgeon  attached  to  the  base  hospital  at 
Renkici. 

Returning  to  London  he  set  up  in  practice  for  himself  and  met 
with  much  success  as  a  consulting  physician.  But  the  constant  strain  of 
his  growing  practice  caused  further  serious  eye  trouble,  and  in  1860  it 
became  necessary  for  him  to  relinquish  his  practice  in  order  to  save  the 
little  sight  that  was  left  to  him.  The  disease  by  which  his  eyes  were 
affected  was  atrophy  of  the  retina,  and  it  was  only  by  prompt  and 
careful  treatment  that  its  course  was  checked,  and  a  certain  amount  of 
vision  preserved.  He  was,  however,  never  again  able  to  read  even  large 
size  print. 

About  this  time  he  married  Miss  Black,  the  only  daughter  of  Mr. 
Stanley  Black,  and  his  family  life  was  one  of  ideal  happiness.  He  was 
by  nature  one  of  the  gentlest  and  kindest  of  men,  a  lover  of  children 
and  animals,  and  a  practical  philanthropist  who  gave  freely  of  his  time, 
his  money  and  his  great  powers  of  mind  simply  and  without  ostentation. 

With  his  marriage  and  the  abandonment  of  his  professional  career 
we  reach  the  definite  close  of  the  first  chapter  of  his  life,  and  henceforth 
his  energies  were  turned  in  a  new  direction,  from  which  the  blind  have 
reaped  so  much  benefit. 

A  few  years  previously  he  had  a  blind  man  as  one  of  his  patients, 
and  the  weakness  of  his  own  sight  doubtless  created  a  fellow-feeling  for 
the  sufferer  and  induced  him  to  take  considerable  interest  in  the  man 
who,  with  the  assistance  of  D* .  Armitage,  in  1865,  secured  the  post  of 
missionary  to  his  fellow-blind  on  behalf  of  the  Indigent  Blind  Visiting 
Society.  He  was  the  first  blind  man  to  obtain  such  an  appointment, 
and  the  experiment  was  a  great  success.  Dr.  Armitage  frequently 
accompanied  the  missionary  on  his  rounds,  and  thus  visiting  the  blind  in 
their  own  homes  he  soon  obtained  a  very  clear  insight  into  their  condi- 
tions and  requirements,  the  immediate  result  of  which  was  that  within 
a  year  he  himself  joined  the  committee  of  the  society.  Unfortunately 
internal  dissensions  severely  handicapped  the  good  work  the  society  was 
doing,  and  finally  led  to  the  resignation  of  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
committee.  Dr.  Armitage  was  thus  left  almost  single-handed  to 
re-organise  the  Society  and  place  it  on  a  better  footing. 


The  Braille  Review.  3 

In  visiting  the  blind  in  their  own  homes  Dr.  Armitage  was  brought 
face  to  face  with  the  terrible  misery  of  their  condition,  the  majority  at 
that  time  being  in  the  lowest  depths  of  poverty  and  distress,  nearly  all 
being  dependent  upon  such  income  as  they  could  obtain  in  the  streets. 
His  heart  was  touched  by  the  sight  of  so  much  distress,  and  he  realised 
that  here,  ready  to  his  hand,  was  a  great  work  waiting  to  be  done. 

In  order  to  supply  the  most  pressing  needs  of  these  poor  sufferers 
he  founded  the  Samaritan  Fund,"  which  was  designed  to  give  aid  in 
case  of  sickness,  to  start  people  in  business  and  help  in  any  other  way 
that  might  be  necessary.  The  subscriptions  soon  reached  .§£600  a  year, 
but  it  is  now  known  that  Dr.  Armitage  contributed  the  greater  part  of 
this  himself.  He  further  generously  endowed  the  fund  so  that  its 
benefits  might  continue  after  his  death.  Altogether  his  own  contribu- 
tions to  this  fund  can  scarcely  have  been  less  than  some  .§£1  7,000. 

As  he  studied  the  conditions  of  the  blind  world  he  came  to 
recognise  that  the  fundamental  evil  from  which  they  suffered  was  the 
deplorable  lack  of  proper  education  and  training.  As  already  mentioned, 
the>e  was  a  lack  of  co-ordination  among  the  various  schools,  but  the 
greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  of  leform  or  progress  was  the  variety  of 
embossed  types  taught  and  used  at  the  various  centres.  Thus  there  was 
the  ordinary  Roman  character,  and  its  simplified  form,  Moon,  there 
were  also  the  types  of  Gall,  Frere,  and  Lucas  all  in  concurrent  use. 

All  these  types  suffered  from  the  grave  objection  that  the  characters 
could  not  be  written.  The  multiplicity  of  types  also  had  the  grave 
inconvenience  that  it  became  impracticable  to  publish  many  books  for 
the  blind  owing  to  the  small  circulation  possible,  and  the  readers  were, 
not  unnaturally,  strong  partisans  of  the  particular  systems  they  had  been 
taught,  and  were  opposed  to  any  change. 

It  was  obvious  that  before  any  real  improvement  could  be  brought 
about  some  uniformity  would  have  to  be  secured  in  this  respect,  and  the 
grave  question  as  to  what  was  the  best  type  for  the  blind  at  once  arose. 
With  characteristic  thoroughness  Dr.  Armitage  set  himself  to  study  the 
educational  methods  of  other  countries.  He  visited  America  and  the 
continent,  and  spent  a  considerable  time  at  the  Institution  in  Paris 
investigating  the  methods  employed  in  that  celebrated  establishment. 
He  realised  that  the  best  people  to  settle  the  question  of  type  were  the 
blind  themselves,  and  on  his  return  to  England  he  at  once  got  together 
a  committee  of  blind,  or  neaily  blind,  gentlemen  to  conduct  a  thorough 
investigation  into  the  matter.  This  resulted,  in  1868,  in  the  foundation 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Society  for  Improving  the  Flmbossed  Litera- 
ture of  the  Blind.  The  title  was  subsequently  changed  to  the  British 
and  Foreign  Blind  Association,  and  finally  The  National  Institute  for 
the  Blind.  The  original  members  of  the  Council  were  T.  R.  Armitage, 
M.D.,  Daniel  Conolly,  B.A.,  W.  M.  Fenn,  and  James  Gales,  Ph.D. 

Very  early  in  the  investigation  it  was  decided  that  all  line  systems 
must  be  considered  unsuitable  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  writing 
them,  which  precluded  their  use  in  correspondence,  and  the  choice  was 
thus  nan  owed  down  to  selecting  one  of  the  "  dot  "  or  point  "  systems. 
Flic  choice  eventually  rested  between  the  original  Braille,  as  used  in 
France,    and    the    New    York    Point    system.       The    respective  claims   of 


4  The  Braille  Review. 

these  two  systems  were  very  evenly  balanced.  For  New  York  Point  it 
was  claimed  that  it  could  be  written  with  greater  tapidity,  and  that  there 
was  a  saving  of  about  30  %  in  space,  while  the  original  Braille  possessed 
greater  simplicity,  a  wider  variety  of  signs,  and  had  also  the  great 
advantage  that  it  was  already  in  use  throughout  Europe,  and  there 
existed  a  considerable  volume  of  music  published  in  it.  Eventually, 
after  two  years  of  close  investigation  the  general  superiority  of  Braille 
was  admitted,  and  recognised  by  the  Council  of  the  Association  in  a 
pamphlet  issued  shortly  afterwards,  in  which  they  set  forth  their  reasons 
in  full.  This  decision  having  been  come  to,  the  Council  at  once  set  to 
work  to  obtain  and  supply  materials  and  apparatus  of  all  kinds  for 
writing  and  printing  Braille,  and  to  publish  books  and  music  in  that 
system  for  the  use  of  the  blind. 

Speaking  before  the  Society  of  Arts  in  January,  1870,  Dr.  Armitage 
pointed  out  that  about  30  per  cent,  of  the  male  pupils  passing  through 
the  Paris  Institution  were  able  to  support  themselves  by  teaching  music, 
tuning  pianos,  etc.,  while  only  about  one  per  cent,  of  the  pupils  of  British 
Institutions  were  able  to  do  so,  and  therefore  if  none  of  the  British 
schools  could  be  induced  to  move  with  the  times  and  improve  their 
methods,  it  would  be  desirable  to  establish  a  new  one  more  in  consonance 
with  modern  ideas. 

Shortly  after  this  Dr.  Armitage  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  F.  J- 
Campbell,  a  young  blind  American  music  teacher,  who  was  passing 
through  London  on  his  way  home  after  a  visit  to  Europe  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  the  methods  of  tuition  in  the  German  conservatoires,  with  a 
view  to  the  establishment  of  a  first-class  academy  of  music  for  the  blind  in 
the  United  States.  The  two  experts  found  themselves  in  close  agreement 
as  to  the  reforms  necessary  in  the  education  of  the  blind,  and  it  became 
clear  to  the  doctor  that  Ml.  Campbell  was  the  very  man  he  wanted  to 
carry  out  the  practical  work  of  the  project  he  had  in  mind.  Mr. 
Campbell  consented  to  remain  in  England,  and  Dr.  Armitage  undertook 
to  find  the  money  necessary  to  open  the  new  school.  They  estimated 
that  a  sum  of  ,§£3,000  would  be  required  :  the  greater  part  of  this  Dr. 
Armitage  gave  himself,  and  he  collected  the  remainder  from  his  personal 
friends.  Thus  it  was  that  the  Royal  Normal  College  and  Academy  of 
Music  for  the  Blind  came  into  being.  In  February,  1872,  three  small 
houses  were  taken  in  Paxton  Terrace,  Upper  Norwood,  near  the  Crystal 
Palace,  and  a  beginning  was  made  with  two  pupils.  The  number, 
however,  increased  rapidly  and  in  a  few  months  they  were  short  of 
accommodation.  The  house  and  giounds  forming  the  nucleus  of  the 
present  premises  was  then  secured  with  the  generous  aid  of  the  Duke  of 
Westminster,  Mr.  Henry  Gardner  and  others,  and  the  school  was  moved 
there  in  October,  1873.  Under  the  wise  and  energetic  management  of 
Mr.  Campbell  (afterwards  Sir  Francis)  the  school  prospered  and  earned 
the  world  wide  reputation  it  enjoys  to-day  for  all  that  is  progressive  and 
up-to-date  in  the  education  of  the  blind. 

Dr.  Armitage  had  frequently  urged  upon  his  friend  Mr.  Henry 
Gardner  the  desirability  of  establishing  a  large  endowment  fund  for  the 
benefit  of  the  blind,  and  had  endeavoured  to  induce  him  to  do  so  during 
his  life-time,  and  when  that  gentleman  died  in  1879  he  bequeathed  the 


The  Braille  Review.  5 

large  sum  of  .§£300,000  in  trust  for  this  purpose.  Unfortunately  there 
was  some  disagreement  among  the  trustees,  and  a  law  suit  followed, 
judgment  being  given  in  1881,  and  the  following  allocation  of  the 
income    of  the  fund  has  since  been  approved  by  the  Court  of  Chancer}'. 

2/9ths  for  instruction  in  music. 

2/9ths      ,,  ,,  ,,   trades,  etc.,  other  than  music. 

2/9ths      ,,  pensions. 

3  9ths  to  be  expended  at  the  discretion  of  the  Committee. 

Our  readers  will  be  interested  to  know  that  the  report  of  this  trial 
was  published  in  Braille  by  the  Association  and  formed  the  first  number 
of  that  popular  magazine  for  the  blind,  Progress. 

In  1886  Dr.  Armitage  was  again  speaking  before  the  Society  of 
Arts,  and  stated  that  the  Royal  Normal  College  had  now  170  pupils, 
and  that  no  less  than  80  per  cent,  of  those  who  had  passed  through  its 
hands  were  now  self-supporting — truly  a  gratifying  result.  Later  he 
served  on  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  Blind  under  the  chairmanship 
of  Lord  Egerton  of  Tatton. 

It  was  Dr.  Armitage's  custom  to  spend  a  good  part  of  the  year 
at  his  country  house  at  Noan,  near  Thurles,  in  Ireland,  where  his  son 
lives  to-day.  He  was  very  fond  of  riding,  and  one  afternoon  in 
October,  1890,  his  horse  stumbled  and  fell.  The  doctor  was  seriously 
injured,  and  on  the  23rd  of  the  month  quietly  passed  away.  His  life 
was  given  to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow-creatures,  and  by  his  death  the 
blind  lost  a  powerful  and  devoted  friend,  but  the  spirit  in  which  he 
lived  and  laboured  still  animates  the  great  institutions  he  did  so  much  to 
establish. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Blind  Association,  with  which  he  was 
chiefly  identified,  has  now  become  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind, 
and  with  recently  much  improved  resources  is  earnestly  fulfilling  those 
humane  objects  for  which  it  was  founded.  During  the  past  month  it 
has  moved  into  the  spacious  new  premises  opened  in  1914  by  His 
Majesty  King  George  V.,  and  as  soon  as  the  necessary  arrangements  can 
be  completed  it  will  be  able  to  increase  enormously  the  output  of 
literature  and  music  for  the  blind.  There  is  an  impression  in  some 
quarters  that  this  is  its  sole  work,  but  that  is  entirely  erroneous,  and 
only  those  immediately  connected  with  the  Institute  have  any  conception 
of  the  great  and  varied  work  it  undertakes.  We  are  proud  to  state  that 
the  Institute  still  counts  among  its  guiding  spirits  and  most  generous 
supporters  the  son  and  daughter  of  its  noble  and  beloved  founder. 


The   Blinded    Soldier. 


TPHK  account  of  the  provision  made  for  the  training  of  the  blinded 
-*■  soldiers  and  sailors,  written  by  Mr.  C.  Arthur  Pearson — the 
Chairman  of  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care  Committee — which 
appeared  in  the  last  issue,  has  aroused  widespread  interest,  and  our 
readers  will  therefore  be  glad  to  have  some  later  information  on  a  subject 
so  important. 


The  Braille  Review. 


On  19th  April — Primrose  Day — Her  Majesty  Queen  Alexandra, 
accompanied  by  the  Princess  Royal  and  Princess  Maud,  visited  St.  Dun- 
stan's,  when  a  concert  was  given  by  the  select  choir  of  The  Royal 
Nonnal  College  for  the  Blind,  the  following  being  the  programme  : — 

PROGRAMME. 
Pari-  I. 
"  The  Flow  cms  of  Merrie  England  " 


Chorus 
Song 


CHOIR. 

"Sunbeams" 
Miss  ELSIE  BUSCALE. 

j  "Where  are  you  going  I 


I -Iumorol's  Part  Song  - 

(  to    mv    prettv   maid  r      ; 

'  CHOIR. 

Pianoforte  Soi.o       -  "L'Automne"     - 

Mr.   WILLIAM  EDWARDS,  A.R.C.O. 

Song  -         -         -         "I  am  a  Roamer " 

Mr.   ERNEST   LITTLEWOOD. 
Pari    Song  -         -  "  The  Miller's  Wooing  " 

CHOIR. 


German 
Landon  Ron  alii 

-  Caldicott 

Chaminade 

Mendelssohn 
Iui/on  Farting 

-  Holbrooke 

German 
by  Granville  Bantock 

I 

-  Quilter 

Coleridge  Taylor 


GOD   SAVE   THE   KING. 

At  the  close  of  the  concert,  Mr.  Guy  M.  Campbell  and  Mrs. 
Campbell  were  presented  to  Her  Majesty.  The  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  then  conducted  Her  Majesty  round  the  work-rooms 
whe'*e  some  of  the  men  were  engaged  in  acquiring  a  knowledge 
of  Braille  and  typewriting,  others  in  learning  useful  trades  and  home 
industries  which  they  can  practise  when  they  leave  the  hostel.  To 
the  great  delight  of  the  men  Her  Majesty  presented  each  with  a 
bunch  of  primroses  tied  with  red,  white  and  blue  ribbon.  There  were 
then  26  men  in  residence,  while  1 1  other  blinded  soldiers  visited  St. 
Dunstan's  from  the  Second  London  Hospital  in  order  to  be  present  on 
that  auspicious  occasion.  Within  a  few  days  after  this  article  appears  in 
type,  40  men  will  be  in  residence  at  St.  Dunstan's.  We  feel  that 
unstinted  praise  is  due  to  Mr.  Pearson  for  the  admirable  manner  in 
which  he  has  organised  the  scheme  for  helping  these  men.  We  have 
induced  Mr.  Pearson  to  write  another  article  for  the  next  number  of 
Braille  Renjieiv  in  which  he  will  give  more  particulars  of  the  home  life 
and  training  of  the  soldiers  in  detail.  The  following  account  from  The 
Times  must,  howevei ,  serve  for  this  month  : — 

The   blinded   soldier   is   a    figure   of  tragedy.      He,   who  belonged 
yesterday   to  the   adventurous,  is  to-day  a  prisoner  of  despondency.      His 


Part  II. 

Pari    Song 

-     "  Eootsteps  of  Angels  " 

CHOIR. 

Song 

"All  the  world  awakes  to-day" 

Miss  ISABELLA   VASS. 

Pari   Song 

44  Annie  Laurie  "     -     an 

CHOIR. 

Songs 

[a]    "  Come  away  Death  " 

(/>)    "O,  Mistress  mine  - 

(<)   44Blow,  blow,  thou  winter  wind 

Mr.   ANDREW    ERASER. 

Chorus 

44  Viking  Song  " 

CHOIR. 

The  Braille  Review.  7 

world  has  fallen  to  ruins  ;  and  unless  he  will  relinquish  all  claim  upon 
it,  he  must  build  it  again  from  the  foundations  with  unskilful  hands. 
He  cannot  accomplish  this  without  help  and  encouragement ;  experience 
has  shown  that  help  from  those  who  have  faced  a  like  calamity  to  his 
own  is  of  gi  eater  worth  to  him  than  any  other. 

"  Help  for  the  blind  by  the  blind  is  the  working  principle  of  the 
institution  opened  by  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care  Committee 
at  St.  Dustan's,  Regent's  Park,  which  it  was  my  privilege  to  visit  on 
Saturday.  That  principle,  in  its  application,  has  made  St.  Dunstan's  one 
of  the  most  interesting  places  in  London.  It  has  lightened  the  sadness, 
which,  more  actual  than  the  imprint  of  pain,  though  much  more  elusive, 
lingers  in  the  faces  of  the  men  who  are  learning  here  how  to  begin  life 
once  more  at  the  beginning,  and  to  discount  misfortune  and  defeat 
memory  by  new  achievement. 

The  object  of  the  work  is  to  teach  every  blind  soldier  a  trade  by 
which  he  may  expect  to  earn  his  living,  and  to  introduce  him  at  the 
same  time  to  the  Braille  system  of  reading  and  writing.  Blind  instruc- 
tors have  been  engaged  in  every  instance.  These  men  are  among  the 
most  capable  workers  in  the  country,  and  their  energy  and  enthusiasm 
are  an  immediate  incentive  to  effort.  The  knowledge  that  other  men 
have  "  made  good "  in  spite  of  their  blindness  is  therefore  the  first 
lesson  which  the  blind  soldier  receives.  There  is  generally  in  his 
character  a  quality  of  determination  which,  thus  aroused,  maybe  counted 
upon  to  achieve  success. 

St.  Dunstan's,  which  was  lent  to  the  committee  by  Mr.  Otto 
Kahn,  is  a  very  large  house  standing  in  15  acres  of  ground.  Thanks  to 
this  latter  circumstance  it  has  been  found  possible  to  include  poultry 
farming  and  market  gardening  among  the  subjects  of  instruction.  This 
country  life  section  has  been  taken  over  by  Captain  Peirson-Webber, 
one  of  the  best-known  blind  experts  in  England.  Captain  Peirson- 
Webber's  life  is  itself  a  romance  of  successful  endeavour  against  heavy 
odds ;  he  has  proved  that  a  blind  man  may,  without  previous  know- 
ledge, compete  with  experts  on  their  own  ground  ;  his  work  in  connexion 
with  poultry  farming  is  known  throughout  the  agricultural  world. 

The  Model  Farm. — Many  very  wonderful  devices  have  been 
introduced  by  him  into  the  model  farm  which  he  is  now  conducting. 
The  arrangement  of  gates  and  pens,  of  railings  and  coops,  reveal  extra- 
ordinary ingenuity.  A  blind  man  by  means  of  them,  is  enabled  to  catch 
any  fowl  he  may  desire,  to  drive  his  birds  from  one  plot  of  ground  to 
another,  to  collect  eggs,  and  generally  superintend  everything.  Captain 
Peirson-Webber  was  a  soldier  himself  before  he  became  blind,  and 
therefore  is  especially  well  qualified  to  help  the  men  who  are  receiving 
instruction  from  him. 

Inside  the  house,  in  a  large  conservatory,  work-tables  have  been 
arranged  for  the  teaching  of  carpentry,  boot-repairing,  mat-making,  and 
basket-making.  The  scene  on  Saturday  morning  in  this  workshop  was 
an  intensely  interesting  one.  At  the  carpenter's  bench  a  young  fellow 
who  lost  his  sight  on  the  Aisne  was  just  completing  his  first  picture- 
frame.  It  did  his  instructor  and  himself  credit.  In  this  case  blindness 
was  caused  by  a  bullet  which  passed   from   one   side   of  the    forehead   to 


8 


The  Braille  Review. 


the  other,  injuring  the  optic  nerves.  Near  him  another  young  soldier, 
a  victim  of  bursting  shrapnel,  was  having  his  first  lesson  in  drilling  with 
a  brace.  That  he  was  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  work  was  obvious 
from  his  cheerful  expression,  yet  only  a  short  time  ago  he  returned  to 
this  country  from  a  German  prison,  broken  down  in  health  and  without 
hope  for  the  future. 

"  The  bootmakers  were  very  busy  indeed,  and  their  work  defied 
fault-finding.  So  also  were  the  mat-makers.  The  only  pupils  of  the 
basket-making  instructor  were  two  young  Belgians  who  have  been 
welcomed  to  the  institution,  and  who  arc  very  quickly  picking  up  a 
trade. 

In  another  room  a  massage  class  was  in  progress.  Massage  is 
one  of  those  very  useful  occupations  at  which  blind  people  are  found  to 
excel.  In  view  of  the  widespread  need  for  this  treatment  which  the 
war  has  produced  and  is  producing,  no  better  lesson  could  be  taught  or 
learned.  The  large  Braille  room  was  full  of  pupils,  some  of  them  being 
instructed  in  the  elements  of  the  alphabets  ;  others  at  work  on  the  in- 
genious Braille  typewriters.  Everywhere  one  met  the  spirit  of  hope  and 
cheerfulness,  until  the  impression  of  pathos  gave  place  to  an  enduring 
sense  of  admiration.  Here  surely  is  a  nobler  courage  even  than  the 
fierce  bravery  of  war. 

"  Quarters  for  Officers. —  There  are  quarters  for  officers  in  the 
institution,  and  these  have  already  been  called  into  use.  Reading  and 
writing  will  be  taught  these  young  fellows,  and  also  probably  some 
outdoor  work.  When  their  period  of  instruction  is  over  it  is  hoped 
that  it  will  be  possible  to  place  men  in  permanent  positions,  and  a  large 
grant  has  been  made  by  the  Prince  of  Wales'  Fund  towards  this  purpose. 
The  actual  cost  of  running  the  hostel  is  borne  by  The  National  Institute 
for  the  Blind,  the  Red  Cross  Society,  and  the  Order  of  St.  John. 

A  great  part  of  the  credit  for  this  splendid  undertaking  belongs 
to  Mr.  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  whose  interest  in  his  fellow  sufferers  from 
blindness  is  so  well  known.  Under  Mr.  Pearson's  direction  the  grounds 
of  the  house  have  been  specially  prepared  for  the  comfort  of  the  soldiers. 
All  stepways  and  dangerous  places  have  been  surrounded  by  wooden 
boards,  so  that  the  altered  resistance  to  the  foot  may  give  warning  of  their 
presence.  He  has  also  encouraged  the  use  of  the  lake,  which  com- 
municates with  that  in  Regent's  Park.  Blind  men  are  generally  fond 
of  rowing,  and  it  is  one  of  the  few  outdoor  sports  in  which  they  can 
participate.  '  A  blind  man  feels,'  Mr.  Pearson  said,  '  that  when  he  is 
rowing  a  boat  he  is  conducting  other  people  and  not  as  at  other  times, 
being  condncted  by  them.' 

It  is  this  attitude  of  sympathy  and  the  comprehension  of  the 
psychological  problem  to  be  solved  that  endows  the  work  at  St.  Dunstan's 
with  so  much  value  and  attraction." 


On  Thursday,  22nd  April,  the  Prince  of  Wales  paid  a  visit  to  St. 
Dunstan's,  and  on  Monday,  26th,  their  Majesties  the  King  and  Queen 
also  honoured  the  hostel  with  their  presence.  They  were  conducted 
round  the  premises  by  the  Chairman,  Mr.  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  accom- 
panied   by     the   members    of    the   committee ;    the    doctors    and    others 


The  Braille  Review. 


attached  to  the  hostel  were  also  present.  Their  Majesties  remained 
about  two  hours  and  took  the  deepest  interest  in  all  they  saw,  the  King 
being  especially  interested  in  the  Country  Life  Section,  which  is  under 
the  able  supervision  of  Captain  F.  P.  Peirson-Webber.  On  leaving, 
their  Majesties  expressed  their  warm  appreciation  of  all  that  is  being 
done  for  the  soldiers  and  sailors  at  St.  Dunstan's. 


\JVe  reproduce  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  C.  Arthur  Pearson  which  has  appeared  widely  in 
the  press,  and  in  view  of  the  confusion  that  has  arisen  regarding  the  treatment  of  the 
blinded  soldiers  and  sailors  we  would  call  our  readers'  special  attention  to  it. — EDITOR.  J 

'  Sir, — Judging  from  numerous  letters  which  I  have  received 
lately,  a  considerable  amount  of  confusion  has  been  created  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  are  interested  in  the  welfare  of  soldiers  and  sailors  blinded 
in  the  war  by  the  issue  of  circulars  and  advertisements  from  certain 
institutions  for  the  blind  which  appeal  for  financial  assistance  to  enable 
them  to  benefit  these  brave  fellows. 

"  These  appeals  have  no  connection  with  the  establishment  at  St. 
Dunstan's,  Regent's  Park,  which  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  organise, 
and  which  is  conducted  with  the  concurrence  and  support  of  the  War 
Office,  the  National  Relief  Fund,  the  Red  Cross  Society,  the  Order  of 
St.  John,  and  the  National  Institute  for  the  Blind. 

"  No  ordinarily  constituted  institution  for  the  blind  is  in  a  position 
to  offer  the  blinded  soldier  and  sailor  the  advantages  which  are  open  to 
him  here.  FAerything  which  those  responsible  for  the  appeals  in  question 
propose  to  do  in  the  more  or  less  distant  future,  if  the  public  will  supply 
them  with  funds,  is  already  being  done  at  St.  Dunstan's,  including  the 
provision  of  a  seaside  home  situated  at   Brighton. 

"  I  am  proud  and  happy  to  say  that  almost  without  exception  those 
responsible   for   institutions   for   the    blind   are    working    in   co-operation 
with    us.       In    my    humble  judgment  this    is   not    a  matter    into   which 
competition  should  enter,  noi  does  it  seem  decent  to  endeavour  to  induce 
the   public  to  subscribe    money    for    objects    which    it    is   perfectly   well 
known  arc  being  adequately  and  successfully  carried  out  already. 
C.  ARTFIUR   PF:ARSON 
(Chairman,  Blinded  Soldiers'  and    Sailors'  Care  Committee). 
St.  Dunstan's,  Regent's  Park,  N.W., 
April  23." 


Gift  of  Clothing. 


Through  the  generosity  of  the  Over-Seas  Club,  The  National  Insti- 
tute has  received  a  large  consignment  of  clothing  given  by  friends  in 
New  Zealand,  for  f'cc  distribution  among  the  blind  resident  in  the 
United  Kingdom.  This  splendid  gift  includes  articles  for  men,  women 
and  children,  and  is  now  being  carefully  sorted  and  classified  by  a 
committee  of  ladies,  and  will,  it  is  hoped,  shortly  be  ready  for  distribu- 
tion. The  articles  have  already  been  worn,  but  are,  so  far  as  we  have 
seen,  practically  new  and  in  perfect  condition.  They  are  available  for 
blind   men   and   women,   and   their    children    under    11    years  of  age   if 


io  The  Braille  Review. 

dependent  upon  them.  Applications  should  be  sent  to  the  Secretary- 
General  of  The  National  Institute  and  applicants  should  give  some 
indication  of  their  age,  sex  and  measurements,  or  sizes  usually  worn,  as 
a  guide  to  the  committee  in  selecting  garments  suitable  for  them.  It 
will,  of  course,  be  understood  that  the  quantity  of  clothing  available  for 
distribution  will  p'obably  be  insufficient  to  meet  all  the  requests  sent  in, 
and  applicants  who  do  not  receive  a  reply  will  therefore  kindly  under- 
stand that  the  stock  has  been  exhausted.  Applications  will  be  dealt  with 
generally  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  received,  and  every  effort  will 
be  made  to  extend  the  benefits  of  this  munificent  gift  to  the  largest 
number  possible. 


Massage  for  the  Blind. 

As  mentioned  in  our  last  issue,  The  National  Institute  has  taken 
over  the  management  of  The  National  Institution  for  Massage  by  the 
Blind,  and  we  now  have  the  pleasure  to  give  some  further  particulars. 
The  National  Institute  will  provide  expert  teachers  for  the  training  of 
students  of  massage  at  its  own  premises  in  Great  Portland  Street,  W., 
and  arrangements  are  being  made  whereby  The  Incorporated  Society  of 
Trained  Masseuses,  which  is  the  chief  examining  body  for  this  branch 
of  work  in  the  country,  will  undertake  the  examination  and  certification 
of  students.  Applications  from  blind  persons  who  wish  to  be  trained 
for  this  profession  should  be  made  to  the  Secretary-General  of  The 
National  Institute.  At  the  present  time  it  is  not  proposed  to  charge  any 
fee  for  the  tuition,  but  students  must  be  prepared  to  bear  their  own 
expenses  for  board,  lodging,  etc.,  outside  the  Institute.  Enquiries  have 
been  set  on  foot  which  will  doubtless  result  in  suitable  lodgings  being 
found  and  registered  for  the  use  of  students  not  already  resident  in 
London.  It  will  be  readily  understood  that  a  certain  standard  of 
physical  health,  manners  and  education  is  essential  to  the  making  of  a 
successful  masseur  or  masseuse,  and  that  only  those  who  satisfy  the 
authorities  in  this  respect  can  be  admitted  to  this  course  of  training. 


Blinded   German    Soldiers. 


Ex.  Tel.   Co.'s  Special  Telegram. 

Amsterdam    25th  April. 

The  German  Minister  of  Education  has  appointed  a  committee  to 
enquire  into  the  best  possible  occupation  after  the  war  for  the  thousand 
men  who  have  returned  blind  from  the  front. 

The  committee  has  drawn  up  a  report  stating  that  the  best 
occupation  for  the  blind  warriors  would  be  massaging. 

Consequently  all  blind  soldiers  have  been  invited  by  the  German 
Government  to  attend  schools  for  massaging,  where  they  will  receive 
tuition  free  of  charge. 


The  Braille   Review. 


Training  in  Telephony  for  the   Blind. 

In  the  new  premises  of  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind  a 
telephone  exchange  is  being  installed  which  will  be  under  the  charge  of 
a  blind  operator,  and  the  Institute  will  probabh  be  in  a  position,  from 
time  to  time,  to  receive  a  limited  number  of  students  for  training  in 
this  work.  The  occupation  is  well  within  the  scope  of  the  blind,  and 
offers  good  prospects  of  employment,  but  there  are  certain  qualifications 
that  go  to  the  making  of  a  good  operator  ;  for  instance  a  perfectly  clear 
ennunciation  is  essential,  as  is  also  politeness.  A  good  general  education, 
and  acquaintance  with  the  ordinary  terms  and  phraseology  of  business 
and  society,  coupled  with  alertness  of  mind,  are  necessary  to  the  quick 
comprehension  and  intelligent  treatment  of  messages  :  a  knowledge  of 
shorthand  is  also  invaluable.  The  operator  will  be  equipped  with  a 
head-gear  receiver,  and  a  breast-plate  transmitter  so  that  both  hands  will 
be  left  free  for  the  making  of  notes,  or  performing  other  necessary  actions 
without  interrupting  the  conversation. 


*       #       #       # 

Exhibition  of  Work  done  by  the   Blind. 

We  are  informed  that  this  exhibition  will  be  held  on  2nd  and  3rd 
June  next  at  the  Masonic  Hall,  St.  Leonards-on-Sea.  All  information 
regarding  the  exhibition  can  be  obtained  from  Mrs.  Davidson,  17, 
Albany  Road,  St.  Leonards-on-Sea. 


*       * 


* 


Yorkshire  School  for  the   Blind. 

Just  as  we  are  going  to  press  we  learn  that  the  Rev.  Charles  I*. 
Hard}",  M.A.,  Chaplain-Superintendent  of  the  Royal  School  of  Industry 
for  the  Blind,  Bristol,  has  been  appointed  principal  of  the  Yorkshire 
School  for  the  Blind,  York,  in  place  of  the  late  Mr.  A.  B.  Norwood, 
M.A.  Mr.  Hardy  has  been  superintendent  at  Bristol  for  the  past  five 
years,  and  was  very  highly  recommended  for  his  new  post  by  those  best 
acquainted  with  his  work.  We  wish  him  every  success  in  his  new 
sphere  of  work. 


North  of  England  Union. 

The  annual  meeting  of  the  North  of  England  Union  of  Institu- 
tions, Societies  and  Agencies  for  the  Blind  will  be  held  at  Ilenshaw's 
Blind  Asylum,  Manchester,  on  Saturday,  May  8th,  at  2.30  p.m.,  when 
His  Worship  the  Mayor  of  Salford  (Alderman  Worsley,  J. P.,  will  preside. 
There  will  be  a  concert  by  blind  pupils  of  Henshaw's,  and  the  superin- 
tendent (Mr.  W.  II.  Illingworth)  will  read  a  paper  entitled  "  Gleanings 
from  the  London  Conference."  All  interested  in  the  cause  of  the  blind 
are  welcome." 


The   Braille  Review, 


Correspondence. 

[If'c  reproduce  here  an\  letters  of  general  interest  ice  may  receive,  whether  specifically 
addressed  to  this  Magazine  or  not.  The  Editor  disclaims  all  responsibility  for 
the  views   of  his   correspondents.  J 

INFANT    BLINDNESS    AND    ITS    EFFECTS. 

Sir, — It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  there  exists  a  type  of  blind  child 
who,  though  often  quite  good  mentally,  is  singularly  deficient  in  matters 
requiring  motor  or  manual  activity.  The  extent  to  which  this  helpless- 
ness is  overcome  almost  invariably  corresponds  with  the  age  at  which 
school  training  has  begun  ;  but  even  in  the  most  successful  cases  I  think 
an  expert  could  pick  out  such  a  person  from  among  a  company  of  blind 
adults  without  much  difficulty.  As  I  have  strong  personal  reasons  for 
being  interested  in  this  matter,  I  have  given  it  some  attention,  and  I 
have  long  been  convinced  that  this  defect  occurs,  almost  invariably  and 
exclusively,  where  blindness  dates  from  birth  or  infancy — say  before  the 
age  of  two.  Some  may  think  that  a  few  more  years  of  sight  could  make 
very  little  difference  in  the  long  run.  Let  such  an  one  compare  a  seeing 
child  of  five  with  another  of  the  same  age  who  has  been  blind  most  of 
his  life  and  see  if  the  comparison  does  not  furnish  strong  evidence  in 
support  of  my  contention.  The  latter  child  should  be  quite  blind  for, 
as  Principal  Nilkanthrai  Dahyabrai  has  shown,  sight,  even  if  defective,  is 
a  material  aid  to  geneial  development. 

Very  little  was  heard  about  this  matter  until  last  year  when  Lady 
Campbell,  in  the  course  of  the  excellent  paper  which  she  read  at  the 
London  Conference  quoted  an  illuminating  passage  from  Sir  James 
Crichton  Brown,  in  which  he  clearly  sets  forth  both  the  evil  and  the 
remedy.  We  are  told  that  the  whole  trouble  arises  from  the  unde- 
veloped state  of  the  visual  centre  in  the  brain,  and  this  may  be  rectified 
by  the  early  cultivation  of  the  other  powers.  Common-sense  would 
suggest  that  the  powers  requiring  most  attention  arc  those  which  expe- 
rience has  shown  are  most  backward,  namely,  bodily  activity,  the  use  of 
the  hands  and  the  sense  of  locality.  It  ought  not  to  be  surprising,  and 
certainly  is  not  blameworthy,  that  a  child  who  has  spent  most  of  his  time 
sitting  still  should  have  a  distaste  for  active  exertion,  even  when  it  takes 
the  form  of  play.  Lady  Campbell  says  very  truly  "  If  there  is  no  desire 
for  play  on  the  pa't  of  a  child,  there  is  generally  but  little  energy 
available  for  work,"  and  advises  teachers  to  arouse  this  desire  where  it 
docs  not  exist.  Now  I  believe  it  exists  in  every  child  born  with  a 
normal  brain,  but  after  being  kept  down  in  early  years,  it  often  receives 
its  death  blow  from  the  teacher,  who  is  content  with  worrying  the  child 
into  doing  certain  things,  without  attempting  to  remove  his  distaste  for 
them,  which,  from  being  regarded  as  a  fault,  is  apt  to  increase  rather 
than  diminish.  But  the  great  object  should  be  to  get  the  children  as 
soon  as  they  reach  school  age,  and  this  might  be  attained  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  Day  Nurseries  "  in  various  towns,  where  very  young  blind 
children  could  spend  a  few  hours  every  day  in  ordinary  childish  play- 
under  skilled  supervision.  There  should  be  plenty  of  room  to  run  about, 
and  simple  toys  which  will  employ  the  hands  without  presenting  any 
great  difficulties.  Racing,  ball-play  and  the  handling  of  noise-producing 
toys,  would  all  tend  to  promote  that  vitality  so  often  lacking  in  this  class 


The  Braille  Review. 


13 


of  the  blind.  I  believe  many  parents  would  be  only  too  glad  to  give 
their  children  the  facilities  that  such  a  place  would  afford.  Let  me  add, 
in  conclusion,  that  I  have,  at  certain  times,  received  wise  and  sympathetic- 
help  from  individual  teachers,  but  this  was  the  exception  rather  than  the 
1  ule.  This  letter,  if  published,  will  probably  meet  with  a  ven  mixed 
reception,  but  if  it  succeeds  in  awakening  a  keener  interest  in  this  vital 
matter,  it  will  not  have  been  labour  in  vain. — Yours,  etc.,  WILLIAM 
LAURIE,  Liverpool. 


UNIFORM     TYPE. 

Dear     Sir,  —  In    your    issue     of    March    appears    a     letter    from 
Mr.     P.     E.     Layton     of     Montreal    on    the    Uniform    Type    question 
and  I   expected    in    your    April    issue    to    see    some    criticism,    friendly 
or    otherwise,    on   the    points     raised,    but    fail    to    find    any   comments. 
Is    it    not    the    intention   of  those   in    authority   to    send   out   represen- 
tatives   to    confer     with    the    Uniform    Type    Committee  of  the    United 
States  r        If  not,     I    am    afraid    we   are   going    to    lose    the    opportunity 
of    realising     the    great     ideal    of  a    uniform    type    for    the    blind,   not 
only    the    English  speaking,   but    for    the    nations   of  the   world.      As    I 
understand,    the   American    committee  is  prepared  to   adopt  the    Braille 
alphabet  as  a  basis,  the  question  therefore   must   be   contractions,    surely 
there    is  room   for   agreement    here.       The    fact   that   there   is   so    much 
contention    about  our  standard  Braille  (Grade  II.)  is  evidence  that  there 
is  room  for  discussion.      In  this  month's  issue  mention  is  made  of  further 
contractions   being   brought    from   Grade  III.,  and  there  are  others  who 
advocate   small    character    Braille,    all   this    shows    that    we   are    not    yet 
satisfied.      It  is  due  to   us   to   put    forward    every    effort    to   come    to   an 
understanding  with  our  American  friends  ;    they  have  spent  much  money, 
time   and   energy    in    trying  to   find  a  solution,  and  nobody,  I  think,  can 
question  their  ability  and  sincerity.      As  they  have  sent  a  pressing  request 
for    British    representatives    to   confer  with  them,  the  responsibility,  to  a 
large   extent,   now  rests  with    us.       Let    us   remember   that    the   greatest 
achievements     both    politically    and     financially    have    been    attained    by 
compromise. — Yours,  etc.,  J.  L.  HAWORTH,  Accrington. 
[The   National  Institute  for  the  Blind  has   made  arrangements  to  send   out   Miss 
H.  C.  Russell,  who  is  so  well  known  as  an  expert  on  Braille,   to  represent   the 
Uniform   Type   Committee  of  Great  Britain  at  the  forthcoming  conference  at 
San  Francisco.      Miss   Russell  will    convey   to   the    meeting    the   views  of    the 
British    Committee,    and    if  our    readers   have  any  ideas  on   the   subject   which 
have   not  yet  been  brought  out   in   the  correspondence  which  has  appeared  in 
Progress   and  The   Braille   Review,     we     shall    be   glad   if    they    will   send    them 
on    to    Mr.    Henry    Stainsby,    at      The    National    Institute    for     the     Blind, 
Great   Portland    Street,    who    is    the    Secretary    of   the    British    committee. — 
Editor.] 


INVENTION  FOR  READING  INK-PRINT. 
Sir, — I  was  interested  in  the  notice  in  Tbe  Braille  Revietu  about 
the  invention  to  enable  the  blind  to  read  ordinary  ink-print.  Though 
it  would  certainly  be  an  advantage,  if  it  works,  Roman  type  is  slow  at 
best,  and  I  think  nobody  would  use  it  much.  But  it  struck  me  that  if 
it    could    be    adapted    to    reading    music,  it  would  be  a  great  boon  to  the 


The  Braille  Review. 


14 


blind  teacher,  who  has  to  spend    so   much  time  looking  over   music   for 

pupils,  and  is  so  handicapped  for  the  want  of  more  in  Braille.      I  always 

envy   the  man  with  enough  sight  to  read,  however  slowly  from  staff,  and 

this  system,  if  practicable,  would  put  the  totally  blind  man   in   much  the 

same  position. — Yours,  etc.,  II.  G.  OKE,  Margate. 

Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this  letttcr  we  wrote  to  the  inventor  Mr.  Archibald 

Grogan,   at  his  home  in  British  Columbia,  and  learnt  that  he  was   in    England, 

but   had    unfortunately   been   taken   ill.      As  soon  as  he  is  restored  to  health  he 

hopes  to  call  upon  us  and  go  further  into  the  matter.- — Editor.] 

*       *       =&       * 
SCHOOLS    EOR    THE    BLIND.     No.  IV. 

The  West  of  England  Institution  for  the  Blind, 

Exeter. 

By  J.   A.    PINN,    Superintendent. 

THIS   Institution   was   founded   on   the  25th  October,   1839,  on    the 
foundation    of   the    Exeter    School    for    the    Blind,    which    was 
established    on     28th    April,     1838.      Here,    in     1911,    the    3rd 
Triennial  International  Conference  on  the  Blind  was  held. 
The  objects  of  the  Institution  are  : — 

(a)   The  instruction  and  employment  of  the  adult  blind. 
(h)   The    education     and     instruction     of    children    in    ordinary 
subjects    and    manual   occupations,    in  accordance   with    the 
requirements  of  the  Board  of  Education. 
Management. — The   Management   is  entrusted  to  a  General  Com- 
mittee, consisting  of  the  Honorary   Officers  and    12   elective  Governors, 
assisted  by  a  Sub-Committee  of  Ladies. 

Accommodation. — The  Institution  provides  accommodation  for 
50  boys  and  36  girls.  There  are  five  dormitories,  a  dining  hall,  four 
recreation  rooms,  sick  wards,  music  room  and  a  gymnasium.  The  new 
School,  to  accommodate  15  pupils,  consists  of  five  class  rooms,  and  is 
separated  from  the  main  building  by  a  large  garden.  All  the  class- 
rooms lead  to  a  verandah,  which  is  used  for  open-air  teaching,  and 
steps  lead  from  it  to  a  large  playing  field. 

Domestic  Staff. — includes  superintendent,  matron,  nurse,  six 
domestics,  gardener  and  porter. 

School  Staff. — The  School  staff  comprises: — Head  master,  two 
assistant  masters,  two  assistant  mistresses,  typewriting  mistress,  music 
master,  and  teachers  of  basket  work  and  pianoforte  tuning. 

Curriculum. — The  curriculum  is  framed  with  the  object  of  giving 
instiuction  as  near  as  possible  to  that  received  by  scholars  in  the 
sighted  Primary  Schools.  The  following  are  the  subjects  taught 
according  to  the  time-table: — Religious  knowledge,  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  literature,  geography,  history,  object  and  nature  study, 
elementary  science,  recitation,  spelling,  kindergarten  games,  stories, 
manual  and  technical  work,  physical  exercises. 

The  pupils  over  14  years  of  age  receive  special  instruction  in  two 
or  more  of  the  following  subjects: — Basket-work,  mat-making,  wood- 
work, music,  pianoforte  tuning,  typewriting,  knitting. 


The  Braille  Review.  T5 

Pupils  who  are  not  withdrawn  by  their  respective  authorities  at  the 
age  of  16  years  devote  full  time  to  technical  work,  and  are  specially 
trained  in  one  or  more  occupations. 

Recreation  and  Games. — There  is  ample  accommodation  for  games, 
as  in  addition  to  the  playing  field  there  are  separate  asphalted  yards  for 
hoys  and  girls.  A  good  selection  of  literature  for  recreative  purposes 
can  be  obtained  from  the  Library. 

Admission. — Pupils  are  admitted  at  the  age  of  six  years,  and  may 
remain  until  the  age  of  21  years.  There  are  no  day  pupils,  and  males 
are  not  admitted  above  the  age  of  18. 

Fees. — For  board,  training,  education,  clothing,  per  annum 
£c26  \0s. 

Medical  Attendance. — There  is  a  medical  officer,  dentist,  and  an 
honorary  ophthalmic  surgeon.  Medical  inspection  of  pupils  takes  place 
twice  a  year,  and  all  new  pupils  are  examined  by  the  ophthalmic 
surgeon.  Special  cases  are  treated  at  the  Royal  Devon  and  Exeter 
Hospital  and  at  the  Exeter  Eye  Infirmary. 

Holidays. — In  the  summer,  six  weeks  ;  at  Christmas,  three  weeks. 
Workshop  employees  receive  one  week's  holiday  with  full  pay  in  the 
summer. 

Technical  Department. — This  consists  of  two  basket  shops,  mat 
shop,  pianoforte-tuning  rooms,  knitting  and  weaving  room  and  music 
room.  The  following  occupations  are  taught  : — Men  :  Basket-making, 
mat-making,  boot-making  and  repairing,  chair-caning,  music  (piano- 
forte and  organ),  pianoforte  tuning.  IVomen  :  Basket-making,  chair- 
caning,  machine-knitting  and  weaving,  music  (pianoforte). 

Trade  Department. — Two  foremen  and  22  journeymen  and 
journeywomen  are  employed  in  the  Institution. 

*       *       #       # 


The    Braille    Magazines. 


CONTENTS     OF     THE     APRIL     NUMBERS. 

Braille  Literary  Journal. — Russia  and  her  Ideals,  from  The  Round  Table — The 
Kaieteur    Fall,    Guiana,     by    F.     Nicholls,    from    Chambers' s .  Journal — The 

Centenary  of  Bismark. 

Braille  Musical  Magazine. — Musical  News — Manual  of  Plainsong,  Review  — 
Braille-Stencker  Combination  Guides — Correspondence — Notes  and  News 
concerning  the  Blind — The  Responsive  Psalter — Insets:  "Song  of  Hybrids 
the  Cretan,"  by  Elliott — "Triumphal  March,"  by  Elgar — "  Eleanore,"  by 
Macfarren. 

Progress. — The  Voice  of  Fear:  being  the  story  of  a  Cuckoo,  by  F.  St.  Mars- 
Prize  Competitions — Friends  in  Council — Princess  Mary's  Gift  Book-Items 
of  Interest — The  German  Song  of  Hate — I  he  Blinded  Soldier,  bv  C.  Arthur 
Pearson — War  Service  for  Women — Map  of  the  Dardanelles — College  of 
Teachers,  Annual  Meeting. 

Comrades. — Deborah's  Drawer,  Chap.  IV.  Story  I.  :  How  I  ran  away  from 
Home,  by  Mrs.  O' Reilly— Baby,  Jenny  and  Jim,  by  Mrs.  H.  J.  Wilson, 
Part  IV.— 27th  January,  191.3,  by  II. M. — Singing,  by  R.  E.  Stevenson— 
A  Drover's  Dogs,  (Grade  I.),  a  true  tale  retold  by  the  Editor. 

School  Magazine. — Outposts  of  the  British  Empire — Some  a  Wry  Old  Stories 
of  London — Monthly  Almanack — Youth  and  Duty  (Poem) — Menu  for  the 
South  Pole — A  Symbolical  Clock — An  Automatic  Vegetable  and  Fruit- 
Peeling  Maching — The  Citizen,  by  Oscar  Browning. 


i6  The  Braille  Review. 

Recent  Publications  of 
X?he  national  Institute  for  the  Blind. 

(NOTE.-'*  Post  free"  is  for  INLAND  POSTAGE  ONLY.) 

The  following  books  have  been  prepared  and  adapted  for  the  use  of  the  Blind 
by  H.  M.  Taylor,  Esq.,  M.A.,  J. P.,  F.R.S.,  and  will  be  published  by  the  Institute 
with  financial  assistance  from  the  Embossed  Scientific  Books  Fund  (of  which  Mr. 
Taylor  is  the  founder)  : — 

Life  in  the  Sea,   by  J.  Johnstone.  B.Sc.     Large  size,  interpointed, 

small  character,  I  vol.      Price  2s. 
The  Animal  World,   by   F.  W.   Gamble,  F  R.S.      Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, small  character,  I  vol.      Price  2S.  6d. 

A  Treatise  on  Elementary  Hydrostatics,  by  John  Greaves,  M.A. 

2  vols.,  large  size,  interpointed.      Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol. 

Conic  Sections,  by  Charles  Smith.  Vols.  I.  &  II.  Large  size, 
interpointed.  Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol.  (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs. 
Macmillan  &  Co.) 


The   Traveller's  Guide   from    Death    to    Life  (Abridged),   by 

Mrs.   STEPHEN  Mrszies.      Large  size,  interpointed.      Price  2s.  6d. 

Piers  Plowman  Histories,  Junior  Book  IV.,  by  J.  J.  Bell,  M.A. 

3  vols.,  intermediate  size,  interlined.      Price  2s.  per  vol. 

Princess  Mary's  Gift  Book,  2  vols.,  large  size,  interpointed. 
Price  2S.  4a.  per  vol.  post  free. 

Poems  of  the  Great  War,  published  on  behalf  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales'  Fund.  Lar<;e  size  interpointed.  Price  3d.,  post  free  41!.  (By  kind 
permission  of  Messrs.  Chatto  &  Windus,  Ltd.) 

Why  we  are  at  War,  by  Members  of  the  Oxford  Faculty  of 
Modern  History.  Large  size,  interpointed,  3  vols.  (Vol.  III.,  principally 
in  French  and  German,  and  containing  the  Russian  Orange  Book  and 
extracts  from  the  Belgian  Grey  Book).  Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol.  (By  kind 
permission  of  The  Oxford  University  Press). 

The   Germans:— 1.   Their   Empire:     How   they   made   it,  by 

C.  R.  L.  FLETCHER.  (Oxford  Pamphlets,  1914.)  Large  size,  interpointed. 
Price  8d.  post  free.      (By  kind  permission  of  The  Oxford  University  Press). 

The  Germans:— 2.  What  they  Covet,  by  C.   R.  L.  Fletcher. 

(Oxford  Pamphlets,  1914. )  Large  size,  interpointed.  Price  Sd.  post  free. 
(By  kind  permission  of  The  Oxford  University  Press). 

Eight  Embossed  Maps,  with  their  explanatory  keys  (extracted  from 
Progress),  and  representing  the  various  war  areas.      Price  8d.,  post  freeod. 

A    Form  of  Intercession  with  Almighty  God,  on  behalf  of  His 

Majesty's  Naval  and  Military  Forces  now  engaged  in  war,  to  he  used  in  all 
churches  and  chapels  in  England  and  Wales  and  in  the  town  of  Berwick- 
on-Tweed,  is  now  published  in  Braille,  pocket  edition,  price  3d.,  post 
free  4d. 

Comforts  for  Soldiers  and  How  to  Make  them.  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, price  3d.  post  free.  (Bv  kind  permission  of  the  Editor  of  The 
Needle -Worker.) 

Comforts  for  Sailors  and  How  to  Make  them.  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, price  4d.  post  free.  (By  kind  permission  of  the  Fditor  of  The 
Needle- 11  'orker. ) 

The  Princess,  by  Tennyson.  Large  Size,  interpointed  (new  edition 
in  Revised   Braille).      Price  2s.,  post  free  2s.  id. 


The  Braille  Review. 

RECENT   PUBLICATIONS  {continued). 


17 


Selections  from  Whitaker's  Almanack,  1915.  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed,  price  is.  post  free. 

Scripture  Union  Portions.  1915.     Price  4d.  post  free  50I. 

The  Lilac  Sun-Bonnet,  by  S.  R.  Crockett.  5  vols.,  large  size, 
interpointed.  Price  3s.  per  vol.  (By  kind  permission  of  Mr.  T.  Fisher 
Unwin). 

The  Osbornes,  by  E.  F.  Benson.  In  Grade  III.,  large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 2  vols.     Price  3s.  6d.  per  vol. 

How  to   be   Happy   though    Married,    by   Rev.  E.   J.   Hardy. 

Lartje  size,  interpointed.  3  vols.      Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol. 

Many  Cargoes,  by  W.  W.  Jacobs.  Large  size,  interpointed.  3  vols. 
Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol. 

Richard  II.  (Shakespeare.  Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 1  vol.     Price  2s.  6d. 

Richard  III.  (Shakespeare,  Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 1  vol.      Price  3s.  6d. 

Macbeth  (Shakespeare — Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  interpointed. 
I  vol.      Price  2s. 

King  John  (Shakespeare — Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  inter- 
pointed, 1  vol.     Price  2s. 

Hamlet  (Shakespeare — Globe  Edition).  Large  size,  interpointed, 
I  vol.      Price  3s.  3d. 

Odd,  by  Amy  Le  Feuvre  (Reprinted  from  Progress).  1  vol.,  large 
size,  interpointed.     Price  3s.  o,d. 

The  Articles  of  Religion,  from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
Small  size,  interlined,  price  is.  post  free  is.  id. 

A  Book  of  Prayers  for  Morning  and  Evening  Services  and  Holy 
Communion.      Pocket  size,  interpointed.  price  6d.  post  free. 

101    French    Proverbs,  by    Mdlle   Thirion,  LL.A.     Pocket   size. 

interpointed.      Price  6d.  post  free. 

Justification,  by  Sidney  Collett  (reprinted  from  Channels  of 
Blessing).      Price  4d.,  post  free  3d. 

Conversion,    What   is    it?       by   F.  Gillet   Cory.       Pocket  size. 

interpointed.      Price  8d.,  post  free  oxl.      (Reprinted  from  The  Life  of  Faith.) 

Skeleton  German  Grammar,  by  H.  C.  Atkins,  M.A.     Large  size, 

interpointed,  1  vol.      Price  2s.  6d. 
Exercises   to  ditto.      Large  size,  interpointed,  1  vol.      Price  3s.  6d. 
Guide    to    Auction    Bridge,    with    Royal    Spades,   by   E.   I.   F. 

WILLIAMSON.      Pocket  size,  interpointed.      Price  is.  6d.,  post  free  is.  jd. 
Manual  of   Plainsong,  by  H.  B.  Briggs  and  W.  H.  Erere.     Large 
size,  interpointed,  5  vols..      Price  2s.  6d.  per  vol.     (By  kind  permission  of 
Messrs.  Novello  &  Co.,  Ltd.) 

Interpretation  in  Song,  by  Harry  Plunket  Greene.     Large  size, 

interpointed,  small  character,  2  vols.      Price  2s.  9c!.  per  vol. 

Rule  Britannia  and  The  National  Anthems  of  the  Allies.  Inter- 
mediate size,  interlined.  Price  6d.,  post  free  7d.  (By  kind  permission  of 
Messrs.  J.  Curwen  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  and  Messrs.  (i.  Schirmer,  Ltd.) 

On  the  Mississippi  (Two-Step.  Dance  Music),  by  Carroll  and 
Fields.  Arr.  by  John  Nrat.  Price  3d.,  post  free  4d.  (By  kind  per- 
mission of  Messrs.  B.  Feldman  &  Co.) 


i8 


The  Braille  Review. 


RECENT  PUBLICATIONS  {continued). 

Secrets    (Intermezzo,    Dance    Music),  by  Charles    W.   Ancliffe. 
Trice  31!.,  post     free  4c!.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Hawkes  &  Son.) 

Hail,     Gladdening     Light    (Anthem),    by    George    C.    Martin. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 

The  Day  is  past  and  over  (Anthem),  by  J.  Christopher  Marks. 

Price  od.,  post  free  yd.      (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 

Oh  !  for  a  closer  walk  with  God  (Anthem),  by  Myles  B.  Foster. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.     (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 

Remember   now   thy  Creator  (Anthem),  by  Charles  Steggall. 

Price  6d.,  post  free  yd.      (By  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Novello  &  Co., Ltd.) 


From    The  Star    Folio   of  Music,    by   kind    permission    of   Messrs. 
W.  Paxton  &  Co. /Ltd.  :— 

Chanson    Triste  (Piano),   by    P.    Tschaikowsky.     Price    3d.,    post 
free  4d. 

Chant  sans  Paroles  (Piano),  by  P.  Tschaikowsky.     Price  3d.,  post 

free  4d. 

Coronation    March    (Piano),  by  G.  Meyerbeer.     Price  3d.,  post 

free  4d. 
Crescendo  (Piano),  per  Lasson.     Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
Edelweiss  (Piano),  by  Gustav  Lange.     Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
Grand    March  (Piano),  by  Charles   I).  Blake.     Price    3d.,    post 

free  4c!. 
Melody  in  F  (Piano),  by   A.  Rubinstein.      Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
Minuet  (Piano),  by  I.  Boccherini.      Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
Sobre  las  Olas  Valse  (Piano),  by  Juventino    Rosas.     Price    3d., 

post  free  4d. 
Soldiers'  Chorus  (Piano),  arr.  by  B.   Richards.      Price  3d.,    post 

free  4d. 

Stephanie  Gavotte  (Piano),  by  A.  Czibulka.      Price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
The  Shepherd  Boy's  Song  (Piano),  by  G.  I).  'Wilson.     Price  3d., 

post  free  4d. 

Un  Fragment  de  Mendelssohn  (Piano),  by  C  A.  Caspar.     Price 

3d. ,  post  free  4c!. 

War  March  of  the  Priests  (Piano),  by  Mendelssohn.     Price   4d.- 
post  free  5d. 

Wedding     March    (Piano),    by    Mendelssohn.        Price    4d.,    post 
free  5d. 

Insets  to  the  "Braille  Musical  Magazine,"  1914:— 

Drake's  Drum  (Part-Song)    by    S.  Coleridge-Taylor,  price   3d.   post 

free  4d. 
Slavische  Tanze  (Duet   for  four  hands),  by  A.   Dvorak,   Op.  72,   price 

4d.,  post  free  3d. 
The  Little  Brown  Wheel  (Song),  by  G.   C.   Hardebeck,  price  3d., 

post  free  4d. 
Eleanor  (Song),  by  S.  Coleridge-Taylor,  price  3d.,  post  free  4d. 
Dankljed  nach  Sturm  (Etude  for  the  Piano),  by  Adolphe    Henseit, 

price  4d.,  post  free  5d. 

Remittances  should  be  made  payable  to  The  National  Institute  for  the  Blind. 
Great  Portland  Street.  London,  W.,  and  crossed  "  London  County  and  West- 
minster Bank,  Ltd.'' 


The    "ETHELDA"    BRAILLE     TEACHER 


This  apparatus,  designed  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  Braille,  consists  of  six 
marbles  and  a  wooden  box.  On  the  top  of  the  latter  are  six  hollows  corres- 
ponding to  the  six  dots  of  the  Braille  character.  By  placing  the  marbles  in 
various  position  any  Braille  letters  can  be  formed.  The  box  is  used  as  a 
receptacle  for  the  marbles  when  not  in  use. 

Price  Is.  6d.,  post  free  Is.  8d. 


COLLEGE  FOR  THE  HIGHER  EDUCATION  OF  THE  BLIND, 
WORCESTER. — Public  School  education.  Preparation  for  Universities 
and  Professions.  Modern  side  for  Shorthand,  Book-keeping,  Modern  Lan- 
guages, etc.  Staff  of  University  men  and  specialists.  Prospectus  and  List  of 
Successes  from  Head  Master,  (i.  C.  Brown,  M.A. 

THE  BIRMINGHAM  ROYAL  INSTITUTION  FOR  THE  BLIND. 
(Certified  by  the  Board  of  Education). 
WANTED  a  sighted,  certificated  Assistant-Teacher  (man  or  woman)  for  the  Boys' 
Department  at  Edgbaston.  Previous  experience  in  teaching  the  Blind  not 
essential.  Salary  £\0  higher  than  the  Birmingham  Education  Committee's 
minimum  for  ordinary  school  teachers.  Further  particulars  may  be  had  from 
W.    H.    Thurman,  General  Superintendent  and  Secretary. 


SOLID    BRASS 
FOOT    RILES 

FOR 

THE     BLIND. 


Raised    dots   for  inches  :  divisions  down  to  ^  in.,  all 

deeply  cut    in   metal,   easy   to  recognise. 

Price    Is.   9d.  each. 


Important  to  Superintendents,  etc.  of  Institutions  for  the  Blind.  PUPILS' 
PROGRESS  BOOKS  for  use  in  Schools  for  the  Blind  can  now  be  obtained  from 
the  Institute.      Sample  submitted  on  application. 


frf^i—  «■     ^^— »*      *^  ^»  *■  **^»i  «■■  rf  *«■'»«» 


*^J* 


Embossed  Clock   Dials 


W  I  I  II      MOVA1W.K       HANDS. 


Strong  and  well-made,   Is. 

each. 

\ 

GAMES. 

Cheery 

Families 

marked 

for  the  Bind 

-        per 

paek 

IS. 

6d. 

Patienct 

;  Cards 

jj 

jj 

- 

5? 

IS. 

9d. 

Playing 

Cards 

5? 

5' 

- 

11 

IS. 

9d. 

per  box 
each 
per  box 


;.  od. 


os.   2d. 
2S.  od. 


Word- Making  and  Word  Taking 
Card  for  keeping  lines  straight 
Dominoes,  with  raised  pips 

STYLES. 

Moll's  Safety,  brass-mounted,  with  screw  cap,  6d.  ;  Mushroom 

Shape,    2d.  ;    Boxwood    Ordinary,     id.  ;     Peg    Top    Shape, 

large,    3d.,   medium,    2d  ;     Saddle-Back,    40!.  :: 

ERASERS. 

::     Bone,  4d.  ;   Boxwood,  2d.  ;   Spring,  6d.     ::  :: 


nd   published   by  The    National    Institute  for    the    Blind, 
Great    Portland  Street,   London.   W. 


**i 


iBastott  tfmttstnpt 


MONDAY,  MAY  17,  1915 


A  Home   for 
Blinded   Soldiers   and   Sailors 


in 


umme 


d  Only  ty  tn 


Ligkt  of   Sacrifice 

THANKS  to  the  generosity  and  compas- 
sion of  Mr.  Otto  Kahn,  an  American 
banker,  a  magnificent  home  in  Re- 
gent's Park,  London,  has  recently  been 
provided  for  the  British  soldiers  and 
sailors  who  have  lost  their  sight  while 
fighting  the  battles  of  their  country.  The 
house  is  known  as  the  Blinded  Soldiers  and 
Sailors  Hostel.  The  terrible  calamity  that 
has  befallen  these  heroes  is  heart-rending, 
but  the  feeling  of  pity  is  dispelled  some- 
what as  one  watches  them  move  from  room 
to  room  in  the  "House  of  Hope"  and  go 
about  as  if  accustomed  to  it  all  their 
lives.  Every  man  is  learning  a  trade  so 
that  he  may  earn  his  living,  and  to  read 
and  write  according  to  the  Braille  system. 
Blind  instructors  have  been  engaged  in 
every  instance. 

Inside  the  house,  which  stands  in  a 
beautiful  garden,  worktables  have  been  ar- 
ranged for  the  teaching  of  carpentry,  boot- 
repairing,  mat-making  and  basket-making. 
In  another  room  is  a  massage  class.  Mas- 
sage is  one  of  those  useful  occupations  at 
Which  the  blind  are  found  to  excel.  The 
large  Braille  room  is  full  of  pupils,  some  of 
them  being  instructed  in  the  elements  of 
the  alphabet,  others  at  work  on  the  in- 
genious Braille  typewriters.  But  wherever 
one  goes  there  is  the  spirit  of  hope  and 
cheerfulness  until  the  impression  of  pathos 
gives  place  to  an  enduring  sense  of  admir- 
ation. Here  surely  is  a  nobler  courage 
even  than  the  fierce  bravery  of  war. 


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THE  WAR'S  BLIND. 


H£w  Soldie 
|*5Train 

TJtmilditor  i 


rs  So  Afflicted  Are  Being 
ed  in  Self-Support. 

of  The  yew  York  Times: 


I  have  had  read  to  me  an  extract  from  a 
recent  issue  of  Thb  New  York  Times 
which  tells  something  of  the  generosity  of 
Otto  Kahn  in  placing  his  spacious  mansion, 
St.  Dunstan's,  Regent's  Park,  with  its  mag- 
nificent grounds,  at  the  disposal  of  those 
who  are  teaching  British  and  Belgian  soldiers 
and  sailors  who  have  lost  their  sight  at  the 
front.  Your  readers  will,  I  dare  say,  be  in- 
terested in  some  further  particulars  of  the 
work  which  Mr,  Kahn's  public-spirited  act 
is  enabling  us  to  do. 

We  are  happily  settled  here  at  St.  Dun- 
stan's, and  our  fifty  inmates,  among  whom 
are  included  two  military  and  one  naval  of- 
ficer, are  busy  at  work  and  at  play.  Special 
and,  I  think  I  may  say,  ingenious  arrange- 
ments have  been  made  which  enable  them 
to  find  their  way  about  t>oth  indoors  and 
out  with  astonishing  facility.  Throughout 
the  house  are  paths  of  matting,  throughout 
the  grounds  paths  of  sheet  lead,  and  warn- 
ing signals  consisting  of  boards  are  laid 
flush  with  the  ground  before  steps,  walls, 
trees,  and  other  obstacles.  Each  man  spends 
two  hours  a  day  at  Braille  reading  and 
writing  and  at  learning  to  manipulate  the 
ordinary  typewriter.  I  cannot  speak  too 
highly  of  the  devoted  work  of  the  little 
army  of  voluntary  teachers  who  come  here 
each  day  to  give  instruction  in  these  neces- 
sary accomplishments.  Two  hours  more  are 
spent  in  the  learning  of  some  useful  and 
profitable  occupation.  Many  men  devote 
considerably  more  time  each  day  to  the  ac- 
quisition of  useful  knowledge.  A  very  large 
conservatory  has  been  turned  Into  a  work- 
shop, and  here  the  classes  In  carpentry,  boot- 
repairing,  basket-making,  and  mat-making 
work  busily  under  the  Instruction  of  skilled 
blind  teachers.  The  quite  curiously  rapid 
progress  which  the  men  are  making  may  be 
directly  attributed  to  the  influence  of  the 
blind  teacher.  The  newly  blinded  man  knows 
that  he  is  being  told  to  do  things  he  can 
do,  and.  further,  that  he  Is  being  told  the 
right  way  in  which  to  do  them. 

The  Country  Life  Section,  which  is  under 
the  supervision  of  Captain  "Webber,  the  well- 
known  J^nd^expert,  is  a  most  Interesting 
feature.  inlWRtion  is  given  in  all  branches 
of    poultry    farming,    in    bee   keeping,    and    In 


market  gardening,  and  there  are  many  sim- 
ple and  clever  plans  to  enable  the  blind  men 
to  pursue  these  avocations  with  accuracy  and 
ease.  Several  fellows  are  learning  massage, 
the  one  occupation  at  which  blind  people 
can  compete  on  even  terms  with  people  who 
can  see;  indeed,  the  skilled  blind  man  is  very 
apt  to  take  the  lead  in  this  occupation.  We 
have  just  started  rowing  en  the  Regent's 
Park  lake,  a  branch  of  which  runs  into  our 
grounds.  Rowing  is  an  ideal  exercise  for 
blind  people,  for,  besides  the  actual  physical 
work  involved,  it  gives  them  the  «rare  sense 
of  helping  instead  of  being  helped. 

The  Blinded  Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Hostel  is 
maintained  jointly  by  the  British  Red  Cross 
Society,  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  National  Institute  for  the  Blind, 
and  a  granT  11UIII  IHU  UIUUB  Ul  HIJUUIU 
Fund  is  defraying  the  cost  of  training  the 
men  and  starting  them  in  life.  We  invite 
contributions  to  a  special  fund  which  is  spent 
on  costly  apparatus,  such  as  typewriters,  and 
in  paying  the  traveling  and  living  ex- 
penses of  near  relatives  who  are  brought 
from  distant  parts  of  the  country  to  stay  near 
by  a  blinded  husband,  brother,  or  son.  The 
National  Institute  for  the  Blind  has  placed 
at  our  disposal  a  home  at  Brighton,  where 
the  men  can  gd  for  rest  and  change. 

May  I  end  this  brief  account  by  referring 
to  the  spirit  of  cheery  optimism  which  is 
the  keynote  to  the  life  at  St.  Dunstan'a? 
The  men  are  thoroughly  bright,  interested, 
and  happy.  A  recent  writer  referred  to  this 
place  as  the  Palace  of  Hope.  This  name 
truly  describes  it,  and  I  trust  that  It  will 
turn  out  to  be  a  Palace  of  Brave  Endeavor 
and  Patient  Achievement,  carried  to  a  point 
which  defies  the  infliction  of  a  blow  as 
hard  as  any  to  which  mortals  can  be  asked 
to  submit.  C.    ARTHUR   PEARSON, 

Chairman  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors' 
Committee. 

London,  England,  May  4,  1915. 


asked 
SON,  A 

'  Cj£ 


B 


Y- 


<„•   ^   ^ 


)ING   BLIWCX  SOLDIERS 


Work  a^  Qtto  Kahn's  Regent's 
Park  Mansion  in  London. 


Editor  Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle: 

I  have  had  read  to  me  recently 
many  extracts  from  American  news- 
papers which  tell  something  of  the 
generosity  of  Otto  Kahn  in  placing 
his  spacious  mansion,  St.  Dunstan's, 
Regent's  Park,  with  its  magnificent 
grounds  at  the  disposal  of  those  who 
are  teaching  British  and  Belgian 
soldiers  and  sailors  who  have  lost 
their  sight  at  the  front,  to  be  useful 
and  happy. 

Your  readers  will,  I  daresay,  he 
interested  in  some  further  particulars 
of  the  work  which  Mr.  Kahn's  public- 
spirited  act  is  enabling  us  to  do. 

We  are  happily  settled  at  St.  Dun- 
stan's, and  our  fifty  inmates,  among 
whom  are  Included  two  military  and 
one  naval  officers,  are  busy  at  work 
and  at  play.  Special,  and  I  think  I  may 
say,  ingenious,  arrangements  have 
been  made  which  enable  them  to  find 
their  way  about  both  indoors  and 
out  with  astonishing  facility.  Through- 
out the  house  are  paths  of4  matting, 
throughout  the  grounds  paths  of  sheet 
lead,  and  warning  signals  consisting 
of  boards  are  laid  flush  with  the 
ground  before  steps,  walls,  trees  and 
other  obstacles.  Each  man  spends 
two  hours  a  day  at  Braille  reading 
and  writing  and  at  learning  to  man- 
ipulate the  ordinary  typewriter.  I 
cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  de- 
voted work  of  the  little  army  of  vol- 
untary teachers  who  come  here  each 
day  to  give  instruction  in  these  neces- 
sary accomplishments.  Two  hours 
more  are  spent  in  the  learning  of  some 
useful  and  profitable  occupation. 
Many  men  devote  considerably  more 
time  each  day  to  the  acquisition  of 
useful  knowledge.  -A  very  large  con- 
servatory has  been  turned  into  a 
workshop,  and  here  the  classes  in  car- 
pentry, boot  repairing,  basket  mak- 
ing and  mat  making  work  busily  un- 
der the  instruction  of  a  skilled  blind 
teacher.      The    quite    curiously    rapid 


progress  which  the  men  are  making 
may  be  directly  attributed  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  blind  teachers.  The 
newly  blinded  man  knows  that  he  is 
being  told  to  do  things  he  can  do  and, 
further,  that  he  is  being  told  the 
right  way  in  which  to  do  them. 

The  Country  Life  Section,  which  is 
under  the  supervision  of  Captain 
Webber,  the  well  known  blind  expert, 
is  a  most  interesting  feature.  In- 
struction is  given  in  all  branches  of 
poultry  farming,  in  bee  keeping  and 
in  market  gardening,  and  there  are 
many  simple  and  clever  plans  to  en- 
able the  blind  men  to  pursue  these 
vocations  with  accuracy  and  ease. 
Several  fellows  are  learning  massage, 
the  one  occupation  at  which  blind 
people  can  compete  on  even  terms 
with  people  who  can  see;  indeed,  the 
skilled  blind  man  is  very  apt  to  take 
the  lead  in  this  occupation. 

C.  ARTHUR  PEARSON. 

London,  May  14,  1915. 


/ 


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-*  '',-     '     -  ,      : 


TV 


TEACH  BLINDED  FIGHTERS, 


loj  Soldier  and  Sailor  War  Vic- 
tints    in     Loudon. 

How  British  and  Belgian  soldiers  and 
sailors  who  have  lost  their  sight  in  the 
war  are  being  taught  to  support  them- 
selves in  their  blindness,  at  St.  Dunstan's, 
the  London  house  of  Otto  Kahn  in  Re- 
gent's Park,  is  told  in  a  letter  from  C. 
Arthur  Pearson,  chairman  of  the  Blind- 
ed Soldiers  and  Sailors  Care  Committee. 
Mr.  Pearson  writes: 

"We  are  happily  settled  here  at  St. 
Dunstan's,  and  our  fifty  inmates,  among 
whom  are  included  two  military  officers 
and  one  naval  officer,  are  busy  at  work 
and  at  play.  Special,  and  I  think  I  may 
say  ingenious,  arrangements  have  been 
made  which  enable  them  to  find  their  way 
about  both  indoors  and  out  with  astonish- 
ing facility.  Throughout  the  house  are 
paths  of  matting,,  throughout  the 
grounds  paths  of  sheet  lead,  and  warn- 
ing signals,  consisting  of  boards,  are 
laid  flush  with  the  ground  before  steps, 
walls,    trees,    and    other    obstacles. 


■ 


"Each  man  spends  two  hours  a  day  at 
Braille  reading  and  writing,  and  at  learn- 
ing to  manipulate  the  ordinary  type- 
writer. I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the 
devoted  work  of  the  little  army  of  vol- 
untary teachers  who  come  here  each 
day  to  give  instruction  in  these  neces- 
sary accomplishments.  Two  hours  more 
are  spent  in  the  learning  of  some  useful 
and  profitable  occupation.  Many  men 
devote  considerably  more  time  each  day 
to  the  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge. 
A  very  large  conservatory  has  been  turn- 
ed into  a  workshop,  and  here  the  classes 
in  carpentry,  boot-repairing,  basket-mak- 
ing, and  mat-making  work  busily  under 
the  instruction  of  skilled  blind  teach- 
ers. The  quite  curiously  rapid  progress 
which  the  men  are  making  may  be  direct- 
ly attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  blind 
teachers.  The  newly  blinded  man  knows 
that  he  is  being  told  to  do  things  he  can 
do,  and,  further,  that  he  is  being  told 
the  right  way  in  which  to  do  them. 

"The  Country  Life  Section,  which  is 
under  the  supervision  of  Capt.  Webber, 
a  well-known  blind  expert,  is  a  most  in- 
teresting feature.  Instruction  is  given 
in  all  branches  of  poultry-farming,  in 
bee-keeping  and  in  market-gardening, 
and  there  are  many  simple  and  clever 
plans  to  enable  the  blind  men  to  pursue 
these  avocations  with  accuracy  and  ease. 
Several  fellows  are  learning  massage,  the 
one  occupation  at  which  blind  people  can 
compete  on  even  terms  with  people  who 
can    see. 

"We  invite  contributions  to  a  special 
fund  which  is  spent  on  costly  apparatus, 
such  as  typewriters,  and  in  paying  the 
travelling  and  living  expenses  of  near 
relatives  who  are  brought  from  distant 
parts  of  the  country  to  stay  near  by  a 
blinded  husband,  brother,  or  son. 

"May  I  end  this  brief  account  by  re- 
ferring to  the  spirit  of  cheery  optimism 
which  is  the  keynote  to  the  life  at  St. 
Dunstan's?  The  men  are  thoroughly 
bright,  interested,  and  happy.  A  recent 
writer  referred  to  this  place  as  the  Pal- 
ace of  Hope.  This  name  truly  describes 
it,   and  I   trust  that  it   will   turn   out  to 


be  a  Palace  of  Brave  Endeavor  and  Pa- 
tient Achievement,  carried  to  a  point 
which  defies  the  infliction  of  a  blow  as 
hard  as  any  to  which  mortals  can  be 
asked    to    submit." 


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THE  BLINDED  SOLDIER 


By  C.  ARTHUR  PEARSON, 
Chairman  of  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care  Committee 

I  have  been  asked  by  the  Editor  of  The 
Braille  Review  to  write  something  about  what 
is  being  done  for  the  brave  fellows  who  have 
given  their  sight  in  the  service  of  their  country. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  at  present  it  is  only 
necessary  to  speak  of  the  blinded  soldier;  at 
the  time  of  writing,  no  sailors  have  been 
blinded  in  the  war. 

There  are,  so  far  as  we  know  at  present, 
forty-one  soldiers  who  have  reached  this  coun- 
try from  the  front  with  their  eyesight  fatally 
damaged,  and  these  include  two  officers — both 
Irishmen — and  two  Belgians,  whom  we  are 
glad  to  treat  on  an  equality  with  the  British 
soldier.  We  of  this  country  owe  much  to  the 
fighting  men  of  Belgium,  and  it  is,  of  course, 
impossible  for  those  of  them  who  have  been 
blinded  to  be  given  adequate  attention  at  home. 

The  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Care 
Committee  is  constituted  as  follows  : 

Miss  E.  W.  Austin,  Secretary  of  the  Incor- 
porated National  Lending  Library  for  the 
Blind. 

The  Hon.  Arthur  Stanley,  Chairman  of  the 
British  Red  Cross  Society,  and  the  Order  of 
St.  John. 

A.  W.  G.  Ranger,  D.  C.  L.,  Chairman  of  the 
National  Institute  for  the  Blind. 

R.  Tindal  Robertson,  a  member  of  the  Brit- 
ish Red  Cross  organization  and  of  the  Council 
of  the  National  Lending  Library  for  the  Blind. 

H.  Stainsby,  Secretary-General  of  the  Na- 
tional Institute  for  the  Blind. 

With  myself  as  Chairman. 

An  Advisory  Council  has  been  formed,  which 
has  been  joined  by  a  great  number  of  the 
workers  among  the  blind  who  are  best  quali- 
fied to  advise  and  assist. 


After  we  had  settled  in  our  minds  the  best 
steps  to  pursue,  we  called  into  our  counsels 
the  Rev.  St.  Clare  Hill,  Mr.  H.  J.  Wilson,  Mr. 
Guy  Campbell,  Mr.  Siddall,  Mr.  Stoddart  and 
Mr.  Ben  Purse,  advantage  being  taken  of  the 
visit  of  the  two  last-named  to  London  to  take 
part  in  a  meeting  of  the  Departmental  Com- 
mittee on  the  Blind. 

We  were  gratified  to  learn  that  in  the  main 
the  arrangements  we  had  devised  met  with  the 
cordial  approval  of  this  gathering,  and,  as  the 
result  of  a  lengthy  discussion,  our  plans  were 
placed  upon  what  seems  a  thoroughly  sound 
basis. 

As  all  the  readers  of  The  Braille  Review 
probably  know,  we  have  been  so  fortunate  as 
to  secure  St.  Dunstan's,  Regent  Park,  for  our 
headquarters.  The  house,  which  has  been  gen- 
erously lent  us  by  Mr.  Otto  Kahn,  the  distin- 
guished American  banker,  is  of  magnificent 
proportions  and  well  adapted  to  the  purpose 
for  which  it  is  being  used.  It  lends  itself  to 
the  formation  of  separate  quarters  for  officers, 
and  contains  a  very  spacious  ball-room  which 
will  be  used  as  a  lounge  and  entertainment- 
hall. 

St.  Dunstan's  is  surrounded  by  fifteen  acres 
of  private  gardens  and  grounds,  from  which  a 
gate  leads  into  the  wide  expanse  of  Regent's 
Park.  An  arm  of  the  large  Regent's  Park 
lake  runs  into  the  gardens,  thus  rendering 
easy,  rowing,  to  my  mind,  the  best  exercise  for 
blind  people. 

The  out-houses  and  stables  are  well  adapted 
for  the  purpose  of  temporary  training-rooms 
and  workshops. 

The  occupations  which  are  being  taught  here 
are : 

1.  Carpentry. — The  preliminary  stage  of 
this  is  the  ingenious  adaptation  of  the  Swedish 
slojd  system,  which  has  been  devised  at  the 
Royal  Normal  College.  Benches  and  other 
appliances  have  been  kindly  placed  at  our  dis- 
posal by  Mr.  Guy  Campbell,  who  has  trained 
a  teacher  for  us,  and  generally  supervised  the 
arrangements.  From  slojd,  the  men  will  pass 
to  practical  carpentry,  which  will  be  taught  by 


Mr.  E.  H.  Atkinson,  of  Sheffield.  Mr.  Atkin- 
son has  given  up,  for  the  time  being,  his  profit- 
able business  as  a  carpenter  in  Sheffield  in 
order  to  help  us.  He  is  probably,  of  all  blind 
artisans  in  the  kingdom,  the  one  who,  by  his 
own  unaided  efforts,  earns  the  largest  income. 

2.  Boot  Repairing. — Arrangements  for  this 
have  been  supervised  by  Mr.  Siddall,  of  Roch- 
dale, who  introduced  this  industry  for  blind 
people  into  this  country.  A  highly  competent 
blind  boot  repairer  has  been  selected  as  in- 
structor. 

3.  Mat-Making. — Of  the  lighter  order,  not 
requiring  special  machinery. 

4.  Basket-AIaking. — Chiefly  of  the  fancy 
order.  Skilled  blind  instructors  have  been 
chosen  for  this  industry  and  that  of  mat-mak- 
ing. 

5.  Telephone  Operating. — This  will  be 
taught  in  the  new  premises  of  the  National 
Institute  for  the  Blind,  where  special  arrange- 
ments have  been  made  by  which  our  blind 
telephone  operator  can  give  instruction  to 
others. 

6.  Massage. — This  will  also  be  taught  in  the 
new  premises  of  the  National  Institute  for  the 
Blind,  which,  as  I  believe  the  readers  of  this 
journal  have  been  informed  elsewhere,  will,  in 
future,  be  responsible  for  the  adequate  devel- 
opment of  this  most  important  branch  of  in- 
dustry for  the  blind. 

7.  Poultry  Farming,  Market  Gardening, 
Etc. — The  grounds  of  St.  Dunstan's  render 
adequate  instruction  in  these  pursuits  possible. 
Captain  Peirson-Webber,  the  well-known  blind 
expert,  has  been  so  good  as  to  make  himself 
responsible  for  the  arrangements  and  conduct 
of  the  Country  Life  section  which  he  will  su- 
perintend. A  properly  qualified  instructor  has 
been  secured,  and  a  model  plant  has  been  in- 
stalled. 

These  arrangements  cover  the  industrial  field 
which  will  be,  for  the  present,  open  to  the 
blinded  soldier.  In  the  majority  of  instances 
we  do  not  expect  to  complete  the  training  at 
St.  Dunstan's.  Our  function  here  is  to  dis- 
cover the  purusit  for  which  a  man  is  best  fitted 
and  give  him  preliminary  instruction  in   it. 


The  large  grant  which  has  been  made  by  the 
Prince  of  Wales'  fund  for  the  purpose  will 
enable  us  to  arrange  for  further  training,  and 
to  settle  the  men  in  life. 

The  cost  of  running  the  Blinded  Soldiers' 
and  Sailors'  Hostel  is  borne  by  the  National 
Institute  for  the  Blind,  the  Red  Cross  Society 
and  the  Order  of  St.  John. 

A  special  fund  has  been  raised  with  which 
to  supply  the  men  with  typewriters  and  other 
apparatus,  and  also  to  pay  the  traveling  ex- 
penses and  board  and  lodging  of  near  relatives 
who  live  in  the  country,  and  who  are  invited 
periodically  to  spend  a  few  days  close  to  their 
husbands,    sons   or    brothers. 

Further,  the  National  Institute  for  the  Blind 
has  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Committee  a 
seaside  home  which  it  has  lately  established  at 
Brighton. 

This  home,  which  is  comfortable  and  com- 
modious, will  be  used  as  a  convalescent  resort 
for  men  who  require  a  period  of  repose  after 
being  discharged  from  hospital.  It  will  also 
be  used  as  a  holiday  and  week-end  resort. 

The  training  of  the  blinded  soldier  is  not 
confined  to  industrial  pursuits.  All  the  men 
are  learning  to  read  and  write  Braille,  and  in 
most  cases  are  making  remarkably  quick  pro- 
gress. They  learn  typewriting,  too.  and  are 
given  lectures  on  interesting  subjects  by  the 
leading  experts  of  the  day. 

Considerations  of  space  prevent  my  dwell- 
ing upon  the  happy  conditions  under  which 
our  community  here  lives.  A  cheerier  set  of 
fellows  it  has  never  been  my  good  fortune  to 
meet,  and  the  kindness  of  many  friends  in 
taking  them  for  walks  and  motor  drives,  and 
providing-  them  with  flowers,  fruit  and  other 
luxuries  is  unending. 

The  ladies  belonging  to  voluntary  aid  de- 
tachments who  look  after  them,  do  much  to 
make  their  lives  bright  and  happy. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  express  an  opinion  as  to 
the  perfection  of  the  plans  which  have  been 
made,  but  I  do  venture  to  say  that  no  blind 
men  have  ever  been  given  so  grand  an  oppor- 
tunity of  making  good  in  the  world  as  is  af- 
forded to  these. 


^m 


Who  will  deny  that  no  trouble  or  expense 
can  repay  them  for  the  sacrifice  which  they 
have  made  in  defending  our  homes  and  up- 
holding the  honor  of  the  British  flag. 


(Reprinted   from   The    Braille   Review,    April,    1915.) 


Tte,uJ     Mor'li,  W.M..TJUot  .    ,. 


J-U>lvf     W~     1115. 


BLINDED  SOLDIERS 
A  WAR  PROBLEM 


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Fame  and  Fortune  United 

in  British  Rank  and  File 

t>      .    . -~ 

Scholarly     University     Men     Act     as     Chauffeurs,     Blue- 
Blooded  Sportsmen  Run  Railroads,  Men  of  Wealth 
Forget  Money  in  Work  Behind  British  Lines. 

By   WILL   IRWIN. 

( Copyright,    1915,  by  The  New  York  Tribune.) 

Northern  France,  June  14. — So  far  as  the  actual  operations  are 
concerned,  war  holds  no  place  for  the  elderly  man.  More  than  ever,  per- 
haps, actual  fighting  is  the  business  of  youth.  A  British  officer,  but  late 
slightly  wounded  and  returning  to  the  line,  was  talking  on  that  subject 
the  other  day. 

"I  am  thirty-five,"  he  said,  "and  I  have  always  exercised  and  tried 
o  keep  myself  fit.  But  I  know  I'm  not  standing  it  as  I  would  have  five 
or  ten  years  ago,  say.  The  strain  and  the  hardship  in  the  trenches  tell 
on  a  man,  and  his  weakest  point  goes  bad.  It  was  digestion  in  my  case — 
even  before  I  was  hit  there  were  several  days  in  which  I  wasn't  of  much 
use  to  the  army.  Then  there  is  rheumatism,  which  begins  to  get  at  most 
men  who  are  subject  to  it  between  thirty-five  and  forty.  They've  raised 
the  age  limit  for  line  troops  to  forty.  In  my  opinion,  they  will  get  little 
use  out  of  the  extra  men  they  enlist  by  that  method.  Fighting  age  is 
athletic  age." 

WORK   BEHIND   LINES   FOR   OLDER    MEN. 

It  happens,  however,  that  not  all  of  war  is  the  fighting  in  the  trenches. 
There  is  work,  stiff  work,  to  do  behind  the  lines  in  supplying  those  hordes 
which  make  up  modern  armies,  in  providing  them  with  munitions,  in 
getting  out  the  wounded.  That  is  work  for  intelligence  as  well  as  muscle; 
that  is  work  which  an  earnest  middle-aged  man  may  do  without  endan- 
gering a  company  or  a  battalion  by  his  physical  stiffness  of  advancing 
years,  and  that  is  'where  the  middle-aged  men  among  the  world  wan- 
derers, the  lost  legions  of  England,  come  in.  Which  is  one  reason  why 
this  British  base,  so  far  behind  the  line  that  we  can  hear  the  cannon 
only  when  the  wind  is  very  favorable,  has  become  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting places  in  all  Europe. 

Those  wandering  Englishmen  of  the  upper  class— one  who  lives  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  world  need  not  travel  far  to  know  the  type.  We  had 
them  by  the  hundreds  on  the  range  of  the  Western  states  in  the  old  days 


when  cow  punching  was  really  cow  punching.  Wherever  there  is  ad- 
venture and  out-of-door  life  they  go.  They  were  in  the  Klondike  with 
the  earliest  rush.  They  were  among  the  first  who  ever  broke  into  the  un- 
known country  about  the  headwaters  of  the  Amazon.  They  ride  the  Bush 
in  Australia  and  the  Veldt  in  South  Africa.  And  when  the  war  broke, 
with  one  accord  they  came  to  the  defence  of  England  and  the  greater 
adventure  under  the  guns.  In  the  early  days  of  the  war  I  met  them  on 
all  my  ocean  crossings  hurrying  home  in  the  hope  of  a  commission,  but 
ready,  if  the  commission  failed,  to  shoulder  a  musket  with  the  "Duke's 
sons,  cook's  sons,"  who  make  up  the  rank  and  file  of  the  new  British 
armies. 

No    Work    Too    Difficult. 

At  least  the  younger  ones.  There  were 
those  grown  stiff  in  the  legs  and  griz- 
zled in  the  hair  to  whom  no  one  would 
give  a  commission  or  a  musket.  Yet 
they  couldn't  keep  out  of  it,  of  course. 
One  by  one,  the  men  of  this  class 
found  work,  according  to  their  capa- 
bilities and  training,  in  those  activities 
which  have  to  do  with  supplying  and 
feeding  and  renewing  an  army.  They 
put  on  the  khaki,  and  without  fuss  or 
parade  they  buckled  down  to  a  routine 
of  hard  work  which  would  tax  the 
powers  of  any  men  of  their  years. 

It  isn't  etiquette  to  mention  name?, 
and,  besides,  the  censor  doesn't  permit 
it;  but  there  is  one  whom  I  shall  call 
Smith-Jones.  He  happens  to  be  very 
rich,  and  yachting  is  his  hobby.  His 
yachting  is  practical;  he  loves  to  take 
the  tiller  himself.  And  he  has  raced 
and  cruised  in  all  the  seven  seas.  He 
knows  New  York  Harbor  as  well  as  he 
knows  Southampton,  and  the  New 
York  Yacht  Club  as  well  as  the  Royal 
Yacht  Club.  His  permanent  or  im- 
permanent home  is  a  chateau  in  France, 
now  become  a  hospital,  and  he  talks 
perfect  French,  which  adds  a  premium 
to  the  services  of  any  British  officer 
in  this  war.  It  happens  that  he  has 
spent  most  of  his  working  life  in  the 
business  of  railroads — his  is  u  great 
"transportation"  family.  So  now  he 
wears  khaki  with  the  three  stars  on  the 
sleeve  which  designate  him  as  captain, 
and  he  is  helping  to  keep  that  network 
of  railroads  which  run  between  base 
and  line  from  tangling  and  stopping. 

Merry  Browne-Robinson. 

It  is  always  likely  to  be  merrv  about 
th  .  hotel  when  he  whom  I  shall  desig- 
nate as  Browne-Rhobinson  comes  down 
with  his  train  from  the  line.  He  is  per- 
haps rising  fifty-five;  he  is  quite  stout  \ 
in  spite  of  an  active  life,  and  inclines  to 
baldness.  Browne-Rhobinson'  ought  to 
be  Irish,  what  with  his  wit,  but  he  in, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  blue-blooded  Eng- 
lish.    When  the  war  came  he  was  some- 


where  in  South  America,  where  he  was 
probably  preparing  to  mingle  in  an- 
other revolution.  There  is  no  age  limit 
in  South  American  troubles.  Now  he 
is  a  T.  C.  O..  which  means  Transport 
Commanding  Officer.  As  such  he  has 
charge,  supreme  charge,  of  a  train.  He 
may  be  gone  four  or  five  days  toward 
the  line,  during  which  he  works  nis 
brain  like  a  Wall  Street  broker  and  his 
body  like  a  longshoreman,  and  sleeps 
in  what  the  army  calls  a  "flea-bag." 
There  follow  two  or  thiee  days  during 
which  he  is  the  joy  of  the  base,  and 
then  he  is  off  again.  I  suppose  that, 
like  all  raconteurs,  he  touches  up  his 
best  stories;  it  seems  impossible  that 
so  many  ridiculous  things  could  com? 
under  the  attention  of  one  man.  This 
is  his  latest: 

The  special  officials  in  the  British 
army,  and  also  the  service  corps  of  the 
British  army,  are  cursed  with  clumsy 
official  designations.  If  the  army 
stopped  to  pronounce  them  all  in  full 
there  would  be  no  time  left  for  fight- 
ing. So  they  fall  back  upon  initial?. 
The  Royal  Army  Medical  Corps  be- 
comes the  R.  A.  M.  C,  the  Army  Ser- 
vice Corps  the  A.  S.  C,  and  so  on. 
Now  it  appears  that  a  bewildered  civil- 
ian showed  up  the  other  day  at  rail- 
head. He  had  business  there — some- 
thing to  do  with  army  supplies — but 
his  papers  were  irregular  and  the  Army 
Intelligence  men  arrested  him  and  took 
him  before  their  chief. 

"D.  S.  O.  and  V.  C.  and— D.  T.'s!" 

"Yes,"  said  the  chief,  "I  am  the  C.  I. 
0.  I  suppose  you  are  all  right,  but  yo  a 
must  straighten  out  your  papers.  See 
the  A.  P.  M.  You  will  find  him  on  the 
ground  floor  of  the  R.  A.  M.  C.  head- 
quarters— next  office  to  the  C.  M.  0. 
Get  him  to  vise  this  and  get  it  counter- 
signed by  the  T.  C.  0.  of  your  tram. 
Then  see  the  M.  T.  C.  0.  He  is  some- 
where about  town.  Do  you  know  him? 
He's  a  big  fellow  with  a'  little  mus- 
tache, major's  uniform  with  the  D.  S. 
0.  and  the  V.  C,  and"— 

"Stop!"  cried  the  civilian.  "Stop!  I 
am  getting  the  D.  T.'s!" 

Also,  he  brings  us  always  the  latest 
news  from  a  curious  social  situation  at 
one  of  the  railheads.  Here  two  officers 
are  associated,  as  they  have  been  by  a 
quirk  of  fate  associated  ever  since  the 
retreat  from  Mons.  One  has  charge  of 
transportation  and  the  other  is  a  mili- 
tary functionary  with  police  powers 
over  the  soldiers  and  civilians  of  the 
district.  Both  are  extremely  efficient 
officers.  When  men  are  so  closely  asso- 
ciated through  hard  and  adventuro'is 
times  they  end  either  by  becoming 
bosom  friends  or  bitter  enemies.  In 
this  case  the  thing  has  gone  the  wrong 
way.     They  have  not  been  on  speaking 


terms  for  months;  but  still  they  go  01 
with  Jieir  respective  jobs  in  the  same 
office. 

The  other  day  the  military  officer 
had  some  complaint  to  make  concern- 
ing the  running  of  the  trains  into 
railhead.  Sitting  across  the  desk  from 
the  transport  officer,  he  called  his  sol- 
dier-clerk, dictated  the  complaint, 
signed  it  when  it  came  off  the  type- 
writer, folded  it,  handed  it  back  to 
the  clerk,  who  solemnly  carried  it 
round  the  desk  and  laid  it  before  the 
transport  officer.  The  transport  offi- 
cer, who  had  just  heard  it  dictated,  put 
on  his  glasses,  read  it  through  to  the 
last  bitter  word,  tore  it  up  and  dropped 
it  on  the  floor. 

Whereupon  the  military  officer  sent 
for  his  sergeant  and  had  the  transport 
officer  put  under  arrest  for  littering  up 
his  majesty's  property. 

A    University     Bred     Chauffeur. 

Now  lhat  the  Lost  Legion  of  Britain 
has  found  itself  and  gathered  again, 
some  of  the  middle-aged  or  elderly 
members  learn  that  they  are  without 
any  special  aptitude  for  high  command. 
In  that  case  they  find  something  to  do 
in  the  ranks.  One  of  them  is  past  fifty. 
He  knows  nothing  of  medicine  or  rail- 
roads or  languages;  but  he  can  run 
an  automobile,  and  do  it  well.  So,  like 
many  others  of  his  class,  he  has  volun- 
teered as  a  Red  Cross  chauffeur.  He 
is  a  university  man,  of  great  breadth 
of  cultivation  and  se  eral  pleasant  lit- 
tle intellectual  hobbies. 

Perhaps  because  he  looked  too  old 
to  take  chances  far  up  toward  the  line, 
the  impersonal  army  authorities  as- 
signed him  as  chauffeur  to  a  medical 
officer  who  must,  in  the  course  of  his 
duties,  do  much  running  about  the 
base.  Now,  when  he  and  his  officer  are 
in  company,  he  is  the  respectful,  obedi- 
ent Tommy,  alv/ays  saluting  with  that 
rather  elaborate  and  flourishing  salute 
which  the  privates  use  in  the  British 
army.  It  is  quite  c'fferent  when  they 
are  alone.  Similarly,  when  there  is 
company  at  the  hospital  he  dines  in 
the  basement  with  the  Tommies;  but 
I  understand  that  if  you  should  drop 
in  unexpectedly  you  would  find  him 
upstairs,  like  as  not,  c'ining  with  the 
officers  and  surgeons.  After  all,  arti- 
ficial rank  can  be  carried  only  so  far. 

Stone    Blind,    Still    a    Soldier. 

Finally,  there  is  Wey  :.\ost  nobly  pa- 
thetic case   of  all. 

When  I  first  saw  him  he  came  sud- 
denly intc  sight  from  a  doorway,  clad 
in  full  Highland  uniform,  even  to  the 
sporran  at  the  belt.  I  remember 
catching  my  breath — he  was  such  an 
xtraordinary  figure     of     a     man.     He 


stood  a  full  six  feet  two,  and  it  was 
six  feet  two  of  muscle  and  sinew  at 
that.  He  was  broad  chested  and  yet 
lithe,  with  that  athletic  litheness  of 
your  fit  Englishma...  He  had  a  fine 
face,  strong  and  clean  cut,  and  spiritu- 
ally clean,  too.  And  over  it  all  was 
that  kind  of  light  which  comes  into 
human  faces  only  from  affliction  nobly 
borne. 

For  both  eyelids  were  closed — sunk 
down  into  the  eye  sockets.  He  was 
stone  blind. 

They  told  me  about  him  later.  As  a 
captain  in  the  Eoer  war  he  won  the 
Victoria  Cross,  but  during  that  feat 
of  arms  he  took  a  rifle  bullet  straight 
through  the  temples.  It  cut  both  op- 
tic nerves.  But  he  has  gone  ahead 
with  his  life.  And  when  the  war  broke 
he  asked  fpr  something  to  do.  He  had 
learned  to  run  the  typewriter  by  the 
touch  system,  and  so  they  put  him  to 
writing  letters  for  the  wounded. 
•  "Though  that  isn't  his  main  use," 
said  the  great  surgeon  who  told  me 
about  him.  "Any  one  could  write  let- 
ters for  the  wounded,  perhaps.  But 
he's  a  wonderful  example  to  the  men. 
When  one  of  them  gets  to  grousing — 
wondering  what  he'll  do  now,  minus  a 
hand  or  an  arm  or  a  foot — we  send  for 
the  captain,  and  he  is  ashamed  to  com- 
plain  any  more." 


TVavO    Ifo-rH,    Yl.  M-,    Saw 


^  v<    cj  ,    1  <=\  i  5 


1,500  BLIND  IN  PAEIS. 


U.    S.    to    Be    Asked    to    Aid    Troops 
Who    Have    Lost    Sight. 

Special  Cable  Despatch  to  The  Sun. 

Paris,  June  8. — The  Relief  Clearing 
House,  having  investigated  the  number 
and  condition  of  wounded  troops  in 
Paris,  found  1,500  who  are  totally  blind. 
The  existing  blind  schools  are  able  to 
accommodate   only   200    of   these. 

The  Clearing  House  intends  to  seek 
funds  in  the  United  States  to  establish 
schools  for  the  remainder  and  others 
who  may  be  expected  in  Paris  in  order 
that  they  may  learn  trades.  As  many 
of  the  blind  are  40  years  old  or  more 
the  task  will  be  a  difficult  one  and  it 
is  expected  that  it  will  take  some  five 
vears  for  the  unfortunates  to  become 
'accustomed     to     their     condition. 

The  Government  allows  a  pension  of 
980  francs  a  year   ($196)   to  totally  blind 


veterans.  This  sum,  while  sufficient  to 
make  the  recipients  desirable  from  a 
matrimonial  viewpoint  in  some  parts  of 
France,  is  scarcely  enough  to  live  on 
in   other   parts. 

The    King   of   Italy    has    informed    the 

Relief  Clearing  House  that  he  will  gladly 

become  a  patron  of  the  institution  if,  as 

anticipated,    it    fs    found    necessary 

to    establish   a   branch    in    Italy. 


y 


<>,uJ>      U.-r-KO,    Yt.  ^.,  "jTlbvCyye,. 


J, 


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t^  15 


NEW  YORK  WILL  AID 
WAR-BUTOEDJEN 

Committee   Organizes   with   Jo- 
seph H.  Choate  at  Head — Sec- 
ond Food  Ship  to  Sail. 

New  Yorkers  of  national  reputation 
have  combined  to  form  a  Committee 
for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle,  which  will 
try  to  aid  and  comfort  the  soldiers  of 
the  warring  nations  who  have  given 
their  eyesight  for  their  countries.  The 
officers  are  Joseph  H.  Choate,  presi- 
dent; Bishop  David  H.  Greer,  honorary 
chairman;  John  H.  Finley,  chairman; 
Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt,  secretary; 
Miss  D.  F.  Rogers,  assistant  secretary, 
and  William  Forbes  Morgan,  jr., 
treasurer. 

Other  members  of  the  committee  are 
ex-President  Taft,  Herbert  L.  Satter- 
lee,  Senator  Thomas  P.  Gore,  Dean 
Grosvenor,  of  the  Cathedral  of  St. 
John  the  Divine;  Adolph  Lewisohn, 
Henry  Phipps,  Jacob  H.  Schiff  and 
Isaac  Seligman. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  committe. 
first  to  aid  the  sufferers  in  a  physical 
and  financial  way,  and  second,  to  cheer 
them  in  the  despondency  that  always 
grips  the  freshly  blinded,  and  to  teach 
them  such  trades  as  the  sightless  can 
learn. 

Contributions  should  be  sent  to  Mrs. 
Peter  Cooper  Hewett,  111  East  Fifty- 
ninth  Street. 


<~ 


f  uv. 


. 


NEW  YORKERS  TO  AID 
EN  BLINDED  IN  WAR 


[OSEPH  H.  CHOATE  AND  BISHOP 
iR  AT  THEIR  HEAD. 


Paris  Alone,  Committee  Hears, 
There  Are  Over  5,000  Sightless 
Victims  of  Present  Clash  Already— 
Will  Teach  Them  Trades  and  "Put 
Eyes  on  Their  Finger  Tips'— 
''Lighthouses"  to  Be  Established. 


Soldiers  who  lose  their  eyesight  in  the 
European  war  are  to  be  helped  by  a  new 
organization  formed  by  prominent  New 
Yorkers  under  the  title  of  the  Committee 
for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle.  Joseph  H. 
Choate  is  president  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee; Bishop  -Greer,  honorary  chairman; 
State  Commissioner  of  Education  John  H. 
Finley,  chairman;  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hew- 
itt, secretary;  Miss  D.  F.  Rogers,  assistant 
secretary,  and  William  Forbes  Morgan,  Jr., 
treasurer. 

Other  members  are:  Miss  Emily  H. 
Bourne,  Senator  Thomas  P.  Gore,  Miss 
Winifred  Holt,  Herbert  L.  Satterlee,  ex- 
President  Taft  and  Arthur  Williams.  A 
general  committee  in  process  of  formation 
already  includes  Dr.  William  M.  Grosvenor, 
Willard  V.  King,  Adolph  Lewisohn,  Henry 
Phipps,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Isaac  N.  Seligman 
and  Louis  Wiley. 

That  there  are  already  over  five  thousand 
blind  soldiers  in  Paris  alone  is  stated  in  a 
cable  message  just  received  from  Miss 
Winifred  Holt,  secretary  of  the  .New  York 
Association  for  the  Blind^who  is  now  In 
Europe'.  -oJiU  WBUL  LU  Wliiupe  to  undertake 
work  there  in  behalf  of  the  soldiers  who 
had  given  their  eyesight  for  their  various 
countries.  Miss  Holt's  cable  message  also 
brought    the  ■  information    that,     with     the 


help  of  the  French  Government  a  "light- 
house'' had  been  established  at  Bordeaux. 
The  plan  is  to  provide  as  many  more 
"lighthouses"  in  all  the  belligerent  coun- 
tries as  may  be  needed  to  care  for  all  blind 
soldiers. 

The  same  methods  will  be  followed  in 
conducting  the  soldiers'  lighthouses  in  Ku~ 
rope  that  have  proved  so  effective  in  the 
case  of  the  lighthouse  in  New  York  city. 
The  first  step  is  to  provide  such  relief  in 
a  matorial  way  as  each  case  may  require. 
The  second  is  to  teach  a  useful  trade  or 
occupation  so  that  the  blind  may  become 
not  only  self-supporting  but  also  suecess- 
. fully  fight  the  terrible  despondency  which 
comes  to   those  who   lose   their,  eyesight. 

In  a  statement  the  purposes  of  the  com- 
mittee  are   set  forth   as   follows: 

"To  find  the  blind  sufferers,  some  of  whom 
are  marooned  in  improvided  hospitals,  farm 
houses   or   chateaux.     Many   of   them   also 
are    congregated   in   the  large  hospitals   or 
Red    Cross    stations.      The    committee    will 
send    visitors   and   teachers    to    these   blind 
floldiersi   furnish   them   with  entertainment, 
through  reading,  games,  etc.,  and  for  those 
physically    able    it    will    start    the    task    of 
putting  eyes  on  the  finger  tips  and  giving 
them  light  through  work.     It  will  seek   to 
consider  the  men's  individual  interests  and 
abilities,    and    as    far   as   possible    to    train 
them  in  trades  and  occupations  for  which 
their     bindness     has     temporarily     unfitted 
them,    or    to    find    new    openings    in    which 
they    may    become    wage    earners.      When 
they    have    become    proficient,    it    is    hoped 
whenever  possible  to  return  them  to  their 
home     surroundings     with     the    knowledge 
and  tools  to  make  them  self-helpful.  When 
this  i»~not  practical  it  is  hoped  to  establish 
tliom     in     congenial     surroundings,    where 
tirfey  may  again  have  a  feeling  of  independ- 
ence  and  well-being." 


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TO  AID 


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SOLDIERS 


Committee  Form4jH  f«r  B 

dters    Who     IIini^Towt    Eyesight. 

To  give  aid  to  thousands  of  soldiers 
who  nave  lost  their  eyesight  In  the  Euro- 
pean   war,    a    score    of    prominent    New 


Yorkers  have  organized  the  Committee 
for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle.  Joseph  H. 
Choate  is  president  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee; Bishop  David  H.  Greer,  honor- 
ary chairman ;  John  H.  Finley,  State 
Commissioner  of  Education,  chairman; 
Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hewett,  secretary; 
Miss  D.  P.  Rogers,  assistant  secretary, 
and  William  Forbes  Morgan,  jr.,  trea- 
surer. Other  members  are  Miss  Emily  H. 
Bourne,  Senator  Thomas  P.  Gore,  Miss 
Winifred  Holt,  Herbert  L.  Satterlee,  ex- 
President  Taft,  and  Arthur  Williams.  A 
general  committee  in  process  of  forma- 
tion includes  William  M.  Grosvenor,  D.D. ; 
Willard  V.  King,  Adolph  Lewisohn, 
Henry  Phipps,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Isaac  N. 
Seligman,   and   Louis  Wiley. 

That  there  are  already  more  than  5,000 
blind  soldiers  in  Paris  alone  is  stated  in 
a  cablegram  just  received  from  Miss 
Winifred  Holt,  who  is  now  in  Europe. 
Miss  Holt  is  secretary  of  the  New  York 
Association  for  the  Blind.  She  recently 
went  to  Europe  to  undertake  similar 
work  there  in  behalf  of  blinded  soldiers. 
Miss  Holt's  cablegram  also  stated  that, 
with  the  help  of  the  French  Govern- 
ment, a  lighthouse  had  been  established 
at  Bordeaux.  The  plan  is  to  provide  as 
many  more  lighthouses  in  all  of  the  bel- 
ligerent countries  as  may  be  needed  to 
care  fof  blind  soldiers. 

The  first  step  in  providing  relief  in  a 
material  way  as  each  case  may  require: 
The  second  is  to  teach  some  useful  trade 
or  occupation  so  that  the  blind  may  be- 
come not  only  self-supporting,  but  alsc 
successfully  fight  the  terrible  despon- 
dency which  comes  to  those  who  los* 
their  eyesight.  Trench  warfare  has  caus- 
ed wounds  to  the  rifle-shoulder  and  head 
the  latter  creating  a  high  percentage  o 
blindness.  Other  contributing  factors 
have  been  poisonous  gases,  running  fire 
and  concussion  from  heavy  artillery  fir- 
ing. 

The  Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in  Bat- 
tle is  inaugurating  a  campaign  to  provide 
the  money  necessary  to  afford  relief  anc 
educate  the  thousands  of  soldiers  wh< 
have  been  blinded. 


tk 


NEW  YORKERS  TO  AID 
MEN  BLINDED  IN  WAR 

Miss  Winifred  Holt  Reports  There 

Are  5,000  Blind  Soldiers 

in  Paris  Alone. 

For  the  purpose  of  rendering  aid 
to  the  thousands  of  soldiers  who  have 
lost  their  eyesight  in  the  European 
war,  a  score  of  prominent  New  York- 
ers have  organized  the  Committee  for 
Men  Blinded  in  Battle.  Joseph  H. 
Choate  is  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee,  Bishop  David  H.  Greer, 
honorary  chairman;  State  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  John  H.  Finley, 
chairman;  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt, 
secretary;  Miss  D.  F.  Rogers,  assis- 
tant secretary,  and  William  Forbes 
Morgan  Jr.,  treasurer. 

That  there  are  already  over  five 
thousand  blind  soldiers  in  Paris  alone 
is  stated  in  a  cablegram  just  received 
from  Miss  Winifred  Holt,  who  is  now 
in  Europe. 


Bo. 


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m 


a,ss 


>  He-Tra^UU- 


IivU    10.  1^*5- 

LIGHTHOUSES  FOR  SOLDIERS 
BLINDED  IN  EUROPEAN  WAR 

NEW  YORK,  July  9— Lighthouses  or 
homes  for  soldiers  who  have  lost  their 
eyesight  in  the  European  war,  pat- 
terned after  the  soldiers'  lighthouses  in 
this  city,  will  be  established  in  all  of 
the  belligerent  countries  through  the 
co-operation  of  the  committee  for  men 
blinded  in  battle,  the  organization  of 
which  was  announced  .here  tonight. 
There  are  said  to  be  5000  blind  soldiers 
in  Paris  alone,  and  Miss  Minifred  Holt, 
secretary  of  the  New  York  Associa- 
tion for  the  Blind,  who  is  now  in  Eu- 
rope, has  cabled  that,  with  the  co-oper- 


ation  of  the  French  government,  a  light- 
house was  recently  established  at  Bor- 
deaux. 

Joseph  H.  Choate  was  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  executive  committee  or- 
ganized here  tonight  and  Bishop  David 
H.  Greer,  honorary  chairman;  John  H. 
Flnley,  state  commissioner  of  educa- 
tion, was  made  chairman;  Mrs.  Peter 
Cooper  Hewitt,  secretary,  and  William 
Forbes  Morgan,  Jr.,  treasurer. 


Bos-Eov^-,  Yvua^ss.,  Qp^oh^ 


TO  AID  BLIND  SOLDIERS'."" 


Lighthouses  Patterned  After  the  One 

in   New  York  to  Be   Established  in 

Belligerent  Countries. 

NEW  YORK,  July  9— Lighthouses  or 
homes  for  soldiers  who  have  lost  their 
eyesight  in  the  European  War,  patterned 
after  the  soldiers  lighthouse  in  this  city, 
will  be  established  in  all  of  the  belliger- 
ent countries  through  the  cooperation  of 
the  Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in  Bat- 
tle, the  organization  of  which  was  an- 
nounced here  tonight. 

There  are  said  to  be  5000  blind  soldiers 
in  Paris  alone,  and  Miss  Winifred  Holt, 
secretary  of  the  New  York  Association 
for  the  Blind,  who  is  now  in  Europe,  has 
cabled  that,  with  the  cooperation  of  the 
French  Government,  a  lighthouse  was 
recently  established  at  Bordeaux. 

Joseph  H.  Choate  was  chosen  president 
Oi.  the  executive  committee  organized 
here  tonight,  and  Bishop  David  H.  Greer, 
honorary  chairman.  John  H.  Finley, 
State  commissioner  of  education,  was 
made  chairman;  Mrs  Peter  Cooper  Hew- 
j  itt,  secretary,  and  William  Forbes  Mor- 
gan Jr,  treasurer. 


*Y 


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^\»>      %J   \y  W\<£sS> 


TO  4ID  BLINDED  SOLDIERS. 

Joseph    H.  Choate  Heads  Committee 
Organized  in  This  Country. 

A  nation-wide  organization,  to  be 
known  as  the  Committee  for  Men 
Blinded  in  Battle,  the  President  of 
which  is  Joseph  H.  Choate,  has  just 
been  organized.  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper 
Hewitt  is  the  Secretary  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee,  and  among:  the 
•members  are  United  States  Senator 
Gore,  the  blind  Senator  from  Okla- 
homa; Dr.  John  H.  Finley,  Commis- 
sioner of  Education;  Miss  Winifred 
Holt,  Herbert  k.  Satterlee,  Ex-Presi- 
dent William  H.  Taft,  Arthur  Will- 
iams and  W.  Forbes  Morgan,  who  is 
the  Treasurer  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. Otners  in  the  general  organ- 
ization are  Adolph  Eewisohn,  Jacob 
H.  Schiff.  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  M. 
Grosvenor,  Henry  Phipps,  and  Isaac 
N.   Seligman. 

That  there  are  already  over  5,000 
ohnd  soldiers  in  Paris  alone,  is  stated 
in  a  cablegram  just  received  from 
Miss  Winifred  Holt,  who  is  now  in 
Europe.  Miss  Holt  is  Secretary  of 
the.  New  York  Association  for  the 
Blind,  and  has  been  active  for  sev- 
eral years  in  the  work  of  relieving 
and  educating  those  who  have  lost 
their  eyesight.  She  recently  went  to 
Europe  to  undertake  similar  work 
there  in  behalf  of  the  soldiers  who 
had  given  their  eyesight  for  their 
various  countries, 

In  a  statement  the  purposes  of  the 
committee  are  set  forth  as  follows: 

To  find  the  blind  sufferers,  some 
of  whom  are  marooned  in  improvid- 
ed  hospitals  and  farm  houses.  The 
committee  will  send  visitors  and 
teachers  to  these  blind  soldiers,  fur- 
nish them  with  entertainment, 
through  reading,  games,  &c.  It  will 
seek  to  consider  the  men's  individual 
interests  and  abilities,  and  as  far  as 
possible  to  train  them  in  trades  and 
occupations  for  which  their  blindness 
has  temporarily  unfitted  them,  or  to 
find  new  openings  in  which  they  may 
become  wage  earners.  When  they 
have  become  proficient  it  is  hoped 
whenever  possible  to  return  them  to 
their  home  surroundings  with  the 
knowledge  and  tools  to  make  them 
self-helpful.  When  this  is  not  prac- 
tical it  is  hoped  to  establish  them  in 
congenial  surroundings,  where  they 
may  again  have  a  feeling  of  inde- 
pendence  and   well-being. 


-*-         -  .  ^  ,       r  M^.  .  ^oo-r- 


^-u^Lxy     10  -    JS  I  5. 


-T 


"LIGHTHOUSES"  FOR 
HOMES  FOR  MEN 

BLINDgJJ  IN  WAR 

NEW  YORK,  Jutyio!— Lighthouses, 
or  homes  for  soldiers  who  have  lost 
their  eyesight  in  the  European  war, 
patterned  after  the  soldiers'  light- 
house in  this  city,  will  be  established 
in  ali'  of  the  belligerent  countries 
through  the  co-operation  of  the  Com- 
mittee for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle,  the 
organization  of  which  was  announced 
here.  There  are  said  to  be  5000  blind 
soldiers  in  Paris  alone. 

Joseph  H.  Choate  was  chosen  presi- 
dent of  the  Executive  Committee,  or- 
ganized here,  and  Bishop  David  H. 
Greer,  honorary  chairman.  John  H. 
Finley,  State  Commissioner  of  Educa- 
tion, was  made  chairman;  Mrs.  Peter 
Cooper  Hewitt,  secretary,  and  Wil- 
liam Forbes  Morgan,  jr.,  treasurer. 


Yte,^  ^o-rK.'Tt.H.."? 


-r-JL- 


TO  AID  BLIND  WAR  VICTIMS 

Prominent       New       Yorkers       Plan 
" Lighthouses"    in    Europe. 

A  abafe  \f  prominent  New  Yorkers, 
head|W«*<Joseph  H.  Choate  and  Wil- 
liam Howard  Taft,  have  organized  un- 
der the  name  of  the  Committee  for 
Men  Blinded  in  Battle,  to  help  the  sol- 
diers of  European  counties  who  have 
lost   their  eyesight   in   the   war. 

The  committee  will  -soon  irraugurate 
a  campaign  to  provide  the  funds  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  the  extensive  work 
of  affording  irmmediate  relief  and  ulti- 
mately educate  the  blind  .soldiers.  It 
is  proposed  to  establish  "Lighthouses." 
similar  to  the  one  in  New  York  and 
the  one  recently  established  in  Bor- 
deaux by  the  French   Government. 

Among  those  interested  in  the  move- 
ment are   Bishop  David  H.   ("veer,  John 
H.    Finley,     Senator    Tin 
(Herbert  L.   Satterlee,  Ado-lph  Lewteohn 
and   Jacob   II.    Sen  iff. 


il 


lr 


ue   in 

Wounded    Aviator,   Struck    Sightless,  Steers 
:   Biplane  From  an  Altitude  of  Seven  Thousand 
Feet  by  Directions  of  His  Dying  Lieutenant 


AVIATOR  LIEUT.  P and  Pilot  Sergt.  M ,  ordered  to  discover  a 
hidden  German  battery  that  was  inflicting  great  damage  to  the  French 
trenches  at  a  certain  point  in  Flanders,  ascended  in  a  biplane.  They  were 
seen  to  fly  far  out  over  the  enemy's  lines,  where  they  were  greeted  by  a  terrific 
fusillade  of  shrapnel.  Their  biplane  performed  some  mystifying  evolutions  and 
at  last  came  rushing  back  to  French  territory,  where  it  fell  to  earth  like  a  wounded 
bird.  Lieut.  P was  dead  in  his  seat  and  Sergt.  M was  blind  and  uncon- 
scious.   On  recovering  his  senses  he  told  the  following  story: 

"Arriving  over  the  Germp.n  lines  and,  saluted,  as  you  know,  by  a  rain  of 
fire,  we  rose  to  a  great  height  and  steered  northwest,  toward  D —  behind  which 
we  observed  a  great  mass  of  infantry  seemingly  resting  in  reserve.  Further  on, 
at  the  crossing  of  the  two  roads  that  surround  the  village  of  C — ,  we  saw  dis- 
tinctly, not  one,  but  three  batteries  perfectly  aligned  in  a  ravine  and  firing  in- 
cessantly. 

"  'Bon  sang  de  bon  sang!'  cried  my  Lieutenant,  shaking  his  fist  at  them,  'so 
there  they  are !'  Then,  he  said  to  me:  'Mission  accomplished.  A  half  turn,  and 
quickly  !• 

"You  can  imagine  how  I  turned  about!  But  we  had  not  gone  five  hundred 
yards  before  the  rain  of  bullets  and  shrapnel-balls  became  heavier  than  ever. 
The  smoke  around  us  was  so  thick  that  we  could  not  see  twenty  yards  ahead. 
To  get  out  of  that  hell  we  were  going  up  higher  when  a  shell,  better  aimed  than 
the  others,  exploded  close  to  us,  just  over  our  heads,  with  a  terrific  crash. 

"I  thought  for  an  instant  that  my  brain  had  burst.  I  felt  a  burning  pain 
in  my  eyes,  then  a  dizziness.  Then  a  thick  fog  shut  out  everything  from  my  sight. 

"In  spite  of  my  agony,  I  desperately  held  the  direction  of  the  machine,  try- 
ing only  to  keep  it  rising  so  as  to  avoid  the  shells  that  were  now  becoming  fewer 
and  fewer. 

"I  called  to  my  Lieutenant:  'Nothing  broken,  Lieutenant/  But — no  reply. 
Supposing  he  had  not  heard,  I  repeated  my  remark,  trying  at  the  same  time 
to  open  my  eyes  so  as  to  see  him.  Not  only  did  I  get  no  reply  but  everything 
around  me  was  black! 

"I  remembered  that  I  had  recently  learned  from  a  Major  that  certain  ex- 
plosive shells  may  inflict  such  injuries  on  the  tissues  as  to  destroy  them  com- 
pletely— and  this  without  the  slightest  contact— and  even  may  cause  death. 
I  had  escaped  death,  but  seemingly  I  was  blind! 


thought     for 
Instant    that 

my      brain      had 

exploded." 


"As  for  my  brave  Lieutenant,  I  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  was  dead 
as  he  did  not  answer  my  calls. 

"In  such  a  situation,  alone  in  space,  at  an  altitude  of  about  seven  thousand 
feet,  I  was  filled  with  terror  and  commended  my  soul  to  God.  However  still 
hearing  those  devilish  hostile  batteries  continuously  pounding  away  and  mowing 
down  my  comrades,  I  had  but  one  idea — to  get  back  at  any  cost  to  our  lines  and 
report  to  my  superior  officers.    But  how  could  I  do  it  in  my  condition? 

"Steering  as  well  as  I  could  by  the  sounds  from  below,  I  turned  in  the  direc- 
tion where  I  expected  to  find  our  army.  I  had  been  going  thus  only  about  two 
minutes  when,  to  my  great  amazement,  I  heard  my  Lieutenant  cry  out:  'Up! 
Up  quick!      Quick'/ 

"Without  asking  explanations,  I  instantly  worked  the  elevating  rudder  so 
vigorously  that  the  machine  took  a  leap  into  the  air, 
striking  and  then  breaking  something  that  I  have 
learned  since  was  the  rooster  weather-vane  on  top  of  a 
church  spire,  against  which  wc  were  about  to  smash 
ourselves.  I  realized  that  we  had  narrowly  escaped  a 
great  danger,  and  I  cried: 


"Thank  you,  my  Lieutenant.  Excuse  me  if  I  am 
not  steering  straight,  but  I  cannot  see  clearly.  And 
you,  Lieutenant,  are  you  wounded? 

"  'Yes,'  he  answered,  'and  I  think  pretty  badly/ 

"Then,  seeing  that  I  had  turned  away  from  our 
lines,  he  said  feebly:  'Make  a  half  turn  to  the  left. 
Further  to  the  left.  That's  right.  Now  go  straight  ahead.' 

"Soon  a  new  hail  of  bullets  informed  me  that  we 
were  still  over  the  German  lines.  Three  minutes  later 
the  voice  of  my  dear  Lieutenant,  ever  more  and  more 
feebie,  said:  'Very  good.  Here  we  are.  I  see  our  men 
waiting  for  us  below.  Cut  off  the  power.  Volplane — 
volplane —  gently —  volpla' —  His  voice  ceased.  The 
next  thing  I  heard  was  the  noise  of  the  machine  smash- 
ing its  ribs  as  it  touched  the  earth." 


TlocKesrcr,  YUM.^Tbi     - 


J  o^cL -v/ 


1^15 


MOVE  INTERESTS 
ROCHESTER  ASS'N 
FOR  BLIND  HERE 


Committee  Organized     for     Relief  of 
1     Those  Who   Lost   Sight  in 
European  War. 

Jtocj^ester  Association  of  Workers 
for  the  Blind  is  interested  in  a  com- 
mittee which  has  been  organized  in 
New  York  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
efficient  aid  to  the  thousands  of  sol- 
diers who  have  lost  their  eyesight  in 
the  war. 

Joseph  H.  Choate  has  been  named 
president  of  the  executive  committee, 
Dr.  John  H.  Finley,  chairman,  and 
Bishop  David  H.  Geer,  honorary  chair- 
man. 

That  there  are  already  more  than 
five  thousand  blind  soldiers  in  Paris 
alone  is  stated  in  a  cable  despatch 
just  received  from  Miss  Winifred  Holt. 
Miss  Holt's  message  also  brought  the 
information  that  with  the  help  of  the 
French  government  a  lighthouse  had 
been    established      at      Bordeaux.    The 


idea  is  to  provide  as  many  more  light- 
houses in  all  of  the  belligerent  coun- 
tries as  may  be  needed  to  care  for  all 
blind  soldiers. 

The  same  methods  will  be  followed 
in  conducting  the  soldiers'  lighthouses 
in  Europe  that  have  proved  so  effec- 
tive in  the  case  of  the  lighthouse  in 
New  York  city.  The  first  step  is  to 
provide  such  relief  in  a  material  way 
as  each  case  may  require.  The  second 
is  to  teach  some  useful  trade  or  occu- 
pation so  that  the  blind  not  only  may 
become  self-supporting  but  also  suc- 
cessfully fight  the  terrible  despond- 
ency which  comes  to  those  who  lose 
their  eyesight. 

Poisonous  gas,  running  fire  and  con- 
cussion    from    heavy    artillery    firing 
are     given    as    reasons     for  so   mai 
cases    of    blindness    in    trench    figj 
ing  in  this  war. 


Pu^CSyl&idL.     VVL^SS 


* 


L  u/      |  'ZL-  *     I  -f  ,  S  . 


CUTE  HEADS  NEW 
COMMITTEE  TO 

<  JELP  III 

Nation-Wide  Organization  Will 

Assist  Men  Who  Have  Lost 

Sight  by  War, 

Joseph  H.  Choate,  former  United 
Staffs  ambassador  to  Great  Britain, and 
a  summer  resident  of  -Stoekbridge,  is 
president  of  the  ne  wnation-wide  organi- 
zation to  be  known  ;is  tbeCommitt 
Men  Blinded  in  Battle.  1'rominem  mem- 
bers of  the  organization  are  United 
States  Senator  Gore,  tbo  bib 
from     Oklahoma;     Dr.  Joan   11.   Fmley, 


commissioner  of  education;  Miss  Wini- 
fred Holt,  Herbert  L.  Satterlee.ex-Pres- 
ident  William  H.  Taft,Arthur  Williams, 
W.  Forbes  Motgau,  Adolph  Lewison, 
Jacob  H.  Schiff,  Rev.  Dr.  William  M. 
Qrosvenbr,  Henry  Phipps  and  Isaac  N. 
Seligniau. 

The  purposes  of  the  organization  are 
set   forth  in  a  statement  as  follows: — 

To  find  the  blind  sufferers,  wme  o* 
whom  are  marooned  in  improvised  hos- 
pitals and  farm  houses.  The  committee 
will  send  visitors  and  teachers  to  these 
blind  soldiers,  furnish  them  with  enter- 
tainment, through  reading,  games,  etc". 
It  will  seek  to  consider  the  men's  indi- 
vidual interests  and  abilities,  and  as  far 
as  possible  to  train  them  in  trades  and 
(Occupations  for  which  their  blindness 
lias  temporarily  unfitted  them,  or  to 
find' new  openings  in  which  they  may 
become  wage  earners.  When  they  have 
become  proficient  it  is  hoped  whenever 
possible  to  return  them  to  their  home 
surroundings  with  the  knowledge  and 
tools  to  make  them  self-helpful.  When 
this  is  not  practical  it  is  hoped  to  estab- 
lish them  in  congenial  surrounding?, 
where  they  may  again  have  a  feeling  of 
independence   «*iri    TYfrllrJlf'-'"^- 


JjostoYV,   7YL^ss.>   G>Uobe^. 


J-t^L^    \4*    \cl\S. 


\MERICANS  CARING  FOR 
THE  BLIND  OF  EUROPE 


When  the  palms  are  being  awarded 
to  Americans  for  war  rescue  work  in 
Europe,  one  man  whose  efforts  will  not 
be  forgotten  is  Rev  Dr  Ernest  Warbur- 
ton  Shurtleff,  former  Congregational 
minister,  more  recentl$  non-sectarian 
worker  in  the  student  quarter  of  Paris, 
and  now  minister  to  the  blind  of  West- 
ern Europe,  made  homeless  and  help- 
less by  the  war. 

He  has  gathered  together  practically 
all  of  the  blind  refugees  who  came  to 
Paris  from  other  parts,  has  fed,  clothed 
and  occupied  them,  and  summoned  to 
their  aid  and  support  thousands  of 
sympathetic  friends  whose  money  or 
willingness  to  work  has  made  them 
valuable  allies  In  this  time  of  trouble. 


Thus  once  again  Boston  is  to  be 
found  in  the  van  of  the  relief  work  be- 
ing carried  on  in  Paris,  for  not  only 
can  Boston  claim  Dr  Shurtleff  as  a 
son,  but  she  is  also  the  mother  of 
many  other  Americans  who  are  now 
working  night  and  day  that  the  blind 
may  not  perish   from   privation. 

Dr  Shxirtleff  will  be  remembered  as 
the  pastor  of  the  Pilgrimage  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Plymouth  during 
the  years  from  1891  to  1897.  The  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  in  Boston  and 
four  years  after  that  in  Minneapolis. 
After  spending  two  years  in  Germany 
he  went  to  Paris  and  there  commenced 
his  famous  work  among  the  students 
in   the  Latin  Quarter   of   Paris. 


Ten  Years  Among  Students. 

The  story  of  the  relief  work  now  be- 
ing directed  by  Dr  Shurtleff  is  one  that 
should  begin  much  further  back  than 
the  commencement  of  the  war  a  year 
ago. 

About  10  years  ago  he  went  to  Paris 
with  his  wife  and  child,  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  Latin  Quarter  and 
started  his  Student  Atelier  Reunions, 
which  have  since  become  famous  among 
people  of  artistic  and  musical  tastes. 

The  reunions  were  held  first  in  the 
Academie  Vetti.  Students  of  painting, 
sculpture  and  music  who  were  working 
for  their  education  in  Paris  would 
gather  there  of  a  Sunday  evening  to 
hear  an  address  by  Dr  Shurtleff  and  a 
concert  by  talented  musicians. 

Dr  Shurtleff's  talks  to  them,  though 
religious  in  character,  were  non-de- 
nominational and  personal,  and  soon 
came  to  be  the  occasion  for  a  regular 
gathering  of  the  American  students. 
The  last  three  years  the  munitions  have 
been  held  in  the  Ecole  d' Architecture. 

But  Dr  Shurtleff's  work,  in  which  Mrs 
Shurtleff  has  greatly  assisted,  went 
further  than  that.  He  would  seek  out 
the  poor  students  and  try  to  make 
their  path  toward  the  goal  of  educa- 
tion less  thorny. 

Sometimes  he  would  get  one  a  suit 
or  a  dress  from  a  rich  friend  across 
the  river;  sometimes  he  would  engineer 
the  sale  to  a  rich  traveler  of  a  painting 
by  some  talented  and  struggling  stu- 
dent. 

And  always  there  stood  back  of  him 
wealthy  Americans  who  believed  in  his 
work  and  were  willing  to  be  called 
on  for  his  help.  Thus  he  won  from  his 
flock  a  debt  of  lasting  gratitude  which 
has  stood  him  in  good  stead  in  his 
labors  amongst  the  war-stricken  blind. 


New    Field    of    Labor. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  war  was  the 
signal  for  a  rush  to  cover  on  tf?e  part 
of  most  Americans  in  Europe.  It  was 
also  with  the  American  students  in 
Paris,  particularly  the  poorer  students 
whom  Dr  Shurtleff  had  repeatedly 
helped. 

But  almost  immediately  he  found  a 
new  field  of  labor.  Of  all  the  refugees 
driven  to  Paris  by  the  rigors  of  warfare, 
none  were  in  a  more  pitiable  pliant  than 
the  blind.     Unable   to  adjust  themselves 


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to  the  changing  conditions  or  to  shift 
for  themselves,  they  were  practically 
helpless.  Down  from  Belgium  and 
Northern  and  Western  France  they 
came,  bringing  nothing  but  themselves 
and  memories  of  misery,  another  object 
of  charity. 

Dr  Shurtleff,  open-h»arted,  generous 
and  sympathetic,  turned  his  attention  to 
their  cause.  His  wife  took  the  first  of 
them  into  her  home,  clothed  them  and 
fed  them  and  started  them  to  work, 
while  he  busied  himself  with  acquiring 
the  means  for  their  subsistence.  Stu- 
dents who  had  remained  in  Paris  and 
American  women  offered  him  their  as- 
sistance. 


Help  From  America. 

He  communicated  at  once  with  his 
friends  in  America,  begging  them  for 
help,  and  received  a  willing  response. 
Many  of  his  former  students  who  had 
received  spiritual  inspiration  or  prac- 
tical help  from  their  pastor  in  school 
days  and  have  since  become  famous  and 
prosperous  in  the  field  of  letters,  art  and 
painting,  dug  into  their  pockets  and 
rummaged  in  their  garrets  for  things 
that  would  be  used  in  the  relief  work 
to    the    blind    refugees. 

Both  in  the  United  States  and  in  Paris 
the  students  formed  committees  through 
which  *hey  raised  money  and  donations 
of  clothes  for  the  purpose.  It  is  said 
that  large  checks  have  beeji  forthcom- 
ing from  Bostonians  whose  names  have 
not  been  made  public. 

In  New  York  and  Philadelphia  the 
collections  have  been  made  by  John 
Wanamaker  without  charge;  articles 
have  been  sent  over  to  Europe  by  the 
French  Line  free,  and  have  been  trans- 
ported to  Paris  and  into  Dr  Shurtleff's 
hands  by  the  railroads  of  France,  also 
free. 

At  the  same  time  Dr  iShurtleff  or- 
ganized the  American  volunteer  wortfen, 
opened  his  home  to  them  and  turned  his 
parlor  and  living  room,  once  the  scene 
of  receptions  and  teas,  into  sewing 
rooms.  Here  women  gather  several 
times  a  week  to  sew  and  stitch  on  ar« 
tides  of  merchandise  intended  for  use 
by  the  blind. 

Dr  Shurtleff's  little  15-year-old  daugh- 
ter Helen  is  taking  an  active  part  in 
this  work.  She  is  an  accomplished  girl 
for  her  age,  very  fluent  in  English, 
French  and  German,  and  ambitious  to 
take  up  her  parents'  philanthropic  work. 
wherever  they  may  leave  it  off. 


About  400   Blind    Refugees. 

Some  of  the  sewing  is  done  by  the 
little  street  sewing  girls,  or  seam- 
stresses of  Paris,  who  were  thrown  out 
of  work  bv  the  war.  They  are  paid  1 
franc  50  (about  30  cents)  per  clay  and 
their  meals,  the  money  being  taken 
from  the  contributions  coming  front 
America.  . 

The  blind  refugees,  as  tune  has  per- 
mitted, have  gradually  been  scattered 
into  temporary  homes,   where  Dr  Shurt- 


leff  visits  them  from  time  to  time  and 
ministers  to  their  needs.  Many  of  them 
have  returned  to  outside  cities  and 
towns,  while  others  have  located  in 
The  studios  of  the  Latin  Quarter,  made 
empty  by  the  sudden  departure  of  the 
students. 

Near  the  Luxembourg  gallery  the 
French  Government  has  placed  a  build- 
ing at  their  disposal  as  sleeping  quar- 
ters. 

The  blind  are  not  left  without  work 
themselves,  as  they  are  constantly  knit- 
ting and  sewing  for  their  brothers  arwj 
fathers  at  the  front,  who  have  not  been 
with  them  for  six  or  seven  months,  or 
perhaps  longer. 

From  time  to  time  they  are  given, 
packages  of  food  and  clothing,  and  the 
relief  work  is  carried  on.  here  very  much 
as  is  that  of  the  American  Commission 
in  Belgium. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  about  400 
of  these  blind  refugees  now  in  the  war 
zone  of  Finance  and  Belgium.  A  large 
percentage  of  them  are  being  lookd  after 
by  Dr  Shurtleff  and  his  corps  of  aids. 


Fled    From   German  Shells. 

,  One  instance  may  be  related  in  which 
Dr  Shurtleff' s  help  brought  much-need- 
ed  relief. 

When  Festubert  was  bombarded  by 
the  Germans,  a  large  number  of  blind 
there  fied  to  Bethune,  which  is  now  in 
the  Germans'  hands.  Later  they  fled 
to  Paris,  where  they  were  without  sup- 
port or  protection  until  Dr  Shurtleff 
saw  them. 

Now  they  form  the- nucleus  of  the  blind 
colony  which  Bostonians  are  helping  to 
support. 

Although  he  has  given  up  most  of  his 
time  to  this  work,  Dr  Shurtleff  has  not 
discontinued  his  Sunday  night  meetings. 
He  is  still  conducting  them  among  the 
students  who  are  left  in  the  .city,  and 
many  eminent  Americans  passing 
through  Paris,  have  spoken  at  these 
gatherings. 


^e,  .<J    3  cot   o-rdL  ,  YVLa^ss.,  We^rou^r 


=<= 


1  L3 


BLLXD  TEACH  BLINDED  FIGHTER 


Soldier  and  Sailor  War  Vic- 
tims in  London. 

itish  and  Belgian  soldiers 
who  have  lost  their  sight 
•ar  are  being  taught  to  sup- 
port themselves  in  their  blindness,  at 
St.  Dunstan's,  the  London  house  of 
Otto  Kahn  in  Regent's  park,  is  told 
in  a.  letter  from  C.  Arthur  Pearson, 
chairman  of  the  Blinded  Soldiers  and 
Sailors  Care  committee.  Mr.  Pear- 
ton   writes: — 


"We  are  happily  settled  here  at  St. 
Dunstan's,  and  our  fifty  inmates, 
among-  whom  are  included  two  military 
officers  and  one  naval  officer,  are  busy 
at  work  and  at  play.  Special,  and  I 
think  I  may  say  ingenious  arrange- 
ments have  been  made  which  enable 
them  to  find  their  way  about  both 
tndoors  and  out  with  astonishing  facil- 
ity. Throughout  the  house  are  paths 
of  matting,  throughout  the  grounds 
paths  of  sheet  lead,  and  warning  sig- 
nals, consisting  of  boards,  are  laid 
flush  with  the  ground  before  steps, 
walls,    trees,   and    other   obstacles. 

Each  man  spends  two  hours  a  day 
at    Braille    reading    and    writing,    and 
at   learning  to    manipulate   the   ordin- 
ary   typewriter.     I    cannot    speak    too 
highly    of    the    devoted    work    of    the 
little  army  of  voluntary  teachers  who 
come  here   each   day   to   give   instruc- 
tion   in    these    necessary    accomplish- 
ments.    Two    hours    more    are    spent 
in    the    learning    of    some    useful    and 
profitable  occupation.     Many  men  de- 
vote   considerablly    more    time     each 
day     to     the     acquisition      of      useful 
knowledge.     A  very  large  conservatory 
has  been  turned  into  a  workshop,  and 
here    the    classes    in    carpentry,    boot- 
repairing,     basket-making,     and     mat 
making  work  busily  under  the  instruc 
tion    of    skilled    blind     teachers.      Th 
quite   curiously   rapid    progress   whici 
the  men  are  making   may  be  direGtl; 
attributed  to  the  influence  of  the  blin< 
teachers.      The     newly     blinded      mai 
knows    that    he    is    being    told    to    d< 
things    he   can    do,    and,    further,    tha 
he  is  being  told  the  right  way  in  whicl 
to  do  them. 

"The  Country  Life  Section,  which  is 
under  the  supervision  of  Capt.  Web- 
ber, a  well-known  blind  expert,  is  a 
most  interesting  feature.  Instruction 
is  given  in  all  branches  of  poultry- 
farming,  in  bee-keeping  and  in  market 
gardening,  and  there  are  many  simple 
and  clever  plans  to  enable  the  blind 
men  to  pursue  these  avocations  with 
accuracy  and  ease.  Several  fellows 
are  learning  massage,  the  one  occu- 
pation at  which  blind  people  can  com- 
pete on  even  terms  with  people  who 
can  see. 

"We  invite  contributions  to  a  special 
fund  which  is  spent  on  costly  appara- 
tus, such  as  typewriters,  and  in  pay- 
ing the  travelling  and  living  expenses 
of  near  relatives  who  are  brought 
from  distant  parts  of  the  country,  ;o 
stay  near  by  a  blinded  husband,  broth- 
er, or  son. 

"May  I  end  this  brief  account  by 
referring  to  the  spirit  of  cheery  op- 
timism which  is  the  keynote  to  the 
life  at  St.  Dunstan's?  The  men  are 
thoroughly  bright,  interested  and 
happy.  A  recent  writer  referred  to 
this    place    as     the     Palace     of     Hope. 


This  name  truly  describes  it,  and  I 
trust  that  it  will  turn  out  to  be  a 
SKseof  Brave  Endeavor  and  Pa- 
Uent  Achievement,  carried  to  a  point 
which  defies  the  infliction  of  a  blow 
m  hard  as  any  to  which  mortals  can 
be  asked  to  submit. 


~1 


.     ~         v^ 


,  YYla,s  s  ■  »  Qp^Tue^tt:^. 


J 


i^   ig-  ^  i5» 


To  give  aid  to  thousands  of  so 
diers  who  have  lost  their  eyesight  i 
the  European  war,  a  score  of  prom: 
nent  New  Yorkers  have  organized  th 
Committee  for  Men  Blinded  inBat 
tie.  This  organization  was  formed  as 
a  result  of  urgent  appeals  from  Mis* 
Winifred  Holt,  secretary  of  the  sNew 
York^Association  for  the  Blind,  w*ro 
Is  mffl  in  Europe  to  undertake  a"  sim- 
ilar work  there  in  behalf  of  blinded 
soldiers.  That  there  are  now  more 
than  5000  blind  soldiers  in  Paris 
alone  is  stated  in  a  recent  cablegram. 
The  message  also  stated  that  with 
the  help  of  the  French  government, 
a  home  for  the  blind,  or  "light- 
house" as  it  Is  technically  called  in 
this  charitable  work  had  been  estab- 
lished at  Bordeaux.  The  plan  of  the 
new  organization  here  is  to  promote 
as  many  more  of  these  "lighthouses" 
in  all  the  belligerent  countries  as 
may  be  needed  to  care  for  the  blind 
soldiers,  whose  numbers  now  run 
into  the  thousands.  The  first  step  to 
be  undertaken  in  this  work  is  to  re- 
lieve the  immediate  material  needs 
of  the  sufferers.  The  second  is  to 
teach  some  useful  trade  or  occupa- 
tion so  that  these  blind  may  become 
not  only  self-supporting  but  also  suc- 
cessfully fight  the  despondence  which 
comes  to  those  who  lose  their  eye- 
sight. Trench  warfare  has  resulted 
in  a  great  number  of  wounds  to  the 
shoulders  and  heads  of  soMiers;  the 
latter  causing  the  high  percentage  of 
blindness.  Other  contributing  fac- 
tors have  been  the  poisonous  gases, 
running  fire  and  concussion  from 
heavy  artillery  firing.  The  commit- 
tee is  inaugurating  a  campaign  to 
provide  the  necessary  money  to  afford 
the  relief  required. 


v~  s y    "  t"   ■  ^    ,        r   v  »    -^  .    ,         .  '    '   ^ 


ly 

t- 


FETES  FOR 
WOUNDED  BRITONS. 


With  Soldiers  at  a   Garden   Party   for  Blinded   Soldiers 


i«  v  fC^  .  J- . ,  i)  c 


J    -UO  '1^1/ 


.    i*U5 


Battle  Lime  Takes  Heavy  Toll  of  Eye- 
sight, But  No  One  Knows  the  Number, 
For  Lists  Are  Kept  Secret.  —  Govern- 
meet  Establishes  Schools   to  Train 


Sightless  Veterans  to  Useful  Labor 


(Correspondence  of  the  Sunday  Journal.) 
By    .Kenneth    Proctor    Littaner. 

PARIS,    July    12. 

THERE    are    two   battle    casualty 
lists  in  France  that  never  leave 
the  grim   confines  of  the   Minis- 
try of  War.     One  is  voluminous, 
appalling    in    extent,    filled    with 
thousands  upon  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
names    of    "the    men    who    WQn't    come 
back." 

The  other,  so  jealously  guarded,  is  in- 
considerable in  point  of  size.  The  names 
It  bears  are  numbered  merely  by  the 
hundreds.  Yet,  small  as  it  is  by  compari- 
son with  the  mighty  roll  of  the  dead.  It 
bears  a  terrible  import,  for  this  is  the 
awful  list  of  those  who  have  given,  not 
their  lives,  but  their  eyes,  to  jp  ranee,  the 
men  whom  the  fortunes  of  war  have 
etricken  blind. 

Of  all  the  hideous  fates  that  can  be- 
fall a  soldier  none  is  more  blighting,  more 
heartbreaking,  more  profoundly  pathetic, 
than  the  loss  of  sight.  Worse  than  cap- 
ture and  imprisonment,  worse  than  am- 
putation of  arm  or  leg,  worse  than  life- 
long disfigurement,  even  worse,  at  the 
outset,  than  swift  death.  It  is  the  one 
crowning  misfortune  that  seems  capable 
Of  robbing  the  French  fighting  man  of 
the  indomitable  spirit  which  is  his. 

And  the  black  lot  of  the  blinded  soldier 
is  so  instantly  arresting,  so  poignantly 
provocative  of  sadness  and  horror  in  the 
hearts  of  every  man  and  woman  wno 
comes  face  to  face  with  it,  that  France 
fears  to  learn  the  truth  about  the  hun- 
dreds to  whose  share  it  has  fallen. 
1  So  the  lists  of  the  blind  are  never  pub- 
lished, but  rest  in  seclusion  at  the  War 
Office,  side  by  side  with  those  of  the 
myriad     dead.        Only    the    families    and 


friends  of  these  hapless  ones  learn  of 
their  gTeat  affliction.  The  nation  as  a 
whole  has  sufficient  sadness  without  this 
additional  drop  being  added  to  its  cup  of 
bitterness. 

And  no  one  outside  official  circles  can 
Bay  how  many  blinded  soldiers  there  are 
In  Franco  to-day,  any  more  than  anyone 
can  state  exactly  how  many  of  France's 
fighters  have  fallen  in  battle  since  last 
August. 

Countless  guesses  have  been  hazarded 
on  this  score.  Some  alarmists  have 
Imagined  that  there  are  as  many  as  6000 
men  now  scattered  through  the  hospitals* 
and  garrisons  of  tihe  republic  who  will 
never  see  again.  Other  estimates,  more 
conservative  and  probably  more  trust- 
worthy, have  it  that  there  are  to-day  in 
France  1500  blind  soldiers. 


One  thing  only,  however,  can  be  stated 
with  any  certainty.  The  present  war  is 
causing  more  blindness  than  any  previous 
known  conflict.  Men  do  most  of  their 
fighting  at  long  range  in  the  trenches, 
where  the  only  exposed  portion  of  the 
body  is  the  head.  An  enormous  percent- 
age of  head  wounds  is  the  inevitable  re- 
sult. And  where  there  are  head  wounds 
there  is  blindness. 

Approximately  half  of  the  cases  of 
blindness  in  the  French  army  are  caused 
by  a  bullet  passing  through  the  temples 
and  cutting  the  optic  nerve.  In  former 
wars,  before  the  small-calibre,  steel-jack- 
eted bullet  came  into  use,  such  a  wound 
spelled  death,  not  blindness.  Bxit  the 
modem  rifle  ball  does  its  sinister  work  so 
cleanly  and  bores  so  fine  a  hole  rrom 
temple  to  temple  that  many  of  its  vic- 
tims are  saved  from  an  unmarked  grave 
on  the  battlefield  only  to  face  lifelong 
darkness. 

Shrapnel  and  the  high-explosive  shell, 
too,  are  numbering  their  sightless  victims 
by  the  hundreds,  and  between  the  work 
of  these  and  the  deadly  long-range  rifle 
of  modern  warfare  so  many  of  France's 
soidiers  have  been  rendered  blind  that 
the  country,  officially  and  unofficially,  has 
come  face  to  face  with  the  necessity  of 
taking  extraordinary  measures  to  make 
life  bearable  for  them. 

The  blinded  soldier  presents  a  tragic 
problem.    gEt  Is  a  pitiable  plight  in  which 


he  finds  himself,  when,  with  heau. 
swathed  in  bandages,  he  learns  finally 
from  the  lips  of  Red  Cross  nurse  or 
army  surgeon  that  his  eyes  are  gone. 
Only  a  few  hours,  days  or  weeks  have 
elapsed  since  he  was  numbered  among 
the  picked  fighting  men  of  his  country 
and  was  chosen  to  fill  a  post  in  the  first- 
line  trenches  by  virtue  of  his  physical 
powers,  his  youth  and  his  self-reliant 
efficiency. 

Now  he  finds  himself  a  groping,  help- 
less, aimless  creature,  Incapable  of  taking 
three  certain  steps  forward,  tended  as  a 
new-born  babe,  fed  with  a  spoon,  hemmed 
in  with  walls  of  utter  darkness  and  iso- 
lated from  all  the  world  except  for  com- 
munication of  sound  and  feeling. 

It  is  in  this  hopeless  condition  that  the 
French  Government,  which  has  partly 
undertaken  the  responsibility  of  his  sal- 
vation, finds  him  when  surgeons  and 
nurses  have  done  their  part  in  hastening 
the  healing  of  hi9  wounds. 

The  first  thing  the  Government  then 
does  for  hLm  is  to  present  him  with  a 
pension  of  $175  yearly,  which,  as  far  as 
it  goes,  is  very  well,  for  a  little  money 
si  retches  a  long  way  In  France.  A 
Farisian  of  the  lower  middle  classes  can, 
with  rigid  economy,  live  several  months 
on  that  sum;  with  the  same  amount  a 
peasant  can  very  nearly  eke  out  a  year's 
bare  existence  if  he  returns  to  his  native 
village  In  the  provinces. 

But  the  pension,  even  supposing  it 
were  10  times  the  size,  could  only  solve 
half  the  problem  of  setting  the  blind  sol- 
dier on  his  feet.  And  since  actually  it  is 
quite  inadequate,  in  nine  out  of  every  ten 
cases,  to  furnish  its  recipient  with  even 
the  simplest  necessities  of  life*  the  Gov- 
ernment cannot  rest  content  there.  It 
must  go  further. 

The  problem  Is  a  great  deal  more  than 
a  mere  question  of  building  a  roof  over 
the  blind  man's  head  and  putting  food 
in  hi3  mouth.  If  that  were  the  only  diffi- 
culty the  poorhouse  would  remove  it  at 
a  stroke.  The  real  question,  la  one  of 
taking  several  hundred  full-grown  men 
whom  fortune  has  broken  and  re-endow- 
ing them  with  the  courage  and  the  essen- 
tial functions  of  men.  filling  their  sunken 
hearts  with  hope  and  training  their  list- 
less hands  to  labor.  In  a  word,  what 
the  situation  requires  is  nothing  less  than 
the  remaking  of  the  men's  "morale 
and  the  re-education  of  their  hands  and 
brains. 


First  attempts  to  meet  the  situation 
were  unsuccessful  in  their  issue.  When 
hostilities  were  only  two  or  three 
months  old  and  the  numbs/  of  blind  had 
not  grown  alarming:,  the  Government  con- 
tented itself  with  equipping  for  them  a 
special  ward  in  the  "National  Hospital 
of  the  'Three  Hundred,'  "  the  venerable 
asylum  for  the  blind  founded  by  St. 
Louis.  King:  of  France,  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  But  there  is  a  reason  why 
■blinded  soldiers  whose  salvation  is  in- 
tended should  not  be  lodged  in  the  hos- 
pital of  the  "Three  Hundred." 

The  institution,  which  in  colloquial 
usage,  is  called  "Les  Quinze-Vingts,"  has 
been  associated  in  the  minds  of  the  entire 
French  nation  during  the  six  centuries 
since  its  foundation  with  all  the  real  and 
imagined  terrors  of  blindness.  The 
Frenchman  has  learned  to  look  upon  the 
inmate  of  the  "Quinze-Vingts"  as  a  lost 
soul,  a  pitiful  creature  possessed  of 
nothing  but  melancholia  and  a  stomach. 
It  follows  then  that  the  unfortunate  sol- 
diers who,  during  the  first  months  of  the 
war,  were  sent  to  the  "Quinze-Vingts" 
lost  every  vestige  of  hope  when  they 
learned  where  they  were. 

The  first  man  among  them  who  found 
himself  there  refused  to  credit  the  fact. 
He  wandered  about,  a  heartrending  spec- 
tacle, muttering.  "No,  no,  it  is  not  so! 
I  cannot  be  blind!"  And  when  the  sound 
of  footsteps  apprised  him  of  the  approach 
of  some  human  being  he  would  call  out, 
"Tell  me,  is  it  so  that  I  am  blind?  Am 
I  really  in  the  'Quinze-Vingts'?  Tell  me!" 
The  mere  fact  of  being  an  inmate  of  the 
place  struck  terror  to  his  soul. 

Obviously,  If  the  French,  authorities 
were  going  to  resurrect  their  blind 
charges  from  the  depths  of  despair  the 
hospital  of  the  "Three  Hundred"  could 
not  continue  as  a  factor  in  the  work. 
Moreover,  as  the  war  progressed  and 
its  victims  grew  more  numerous,  the 
ancient    institution    became    overcrowded. 

In  February  the  Government  took  ac- 
tion. An  expansive  old  building  with 
spreading  gardens  on  the  outskirts  of 
Paris  was  leased.  Early  in  March  work- 
men took  possession  of  it  and  rapidly 
set  about  the  task  of  transforming  it  into 
a  convalescent  home  for  the  blind  sol- 
diers of  France.  By  April  most  of  the 
alterations  were  completed,  the  building 
was  sparsely  furnished  and  a  staff  of 
functionaries  and  nurses  were  assigned 
to  the  new  project.  Then  the  blind  were 
brought  and  duly  installed. 

Thus  far  the  Government  had  made 
yeoman  progress.  It  had  provided  for 
the  primary  contingencies  of  housing, 
feeding,  clothing  and  nursing  several 
hundred  blind  convalescents.  But  gov- 
ernments, especially  bureaucratic  govern- 
ments like  that  of  France,  are  perforce 
impersonal.    They  work  by  precedent  and 


rote,  and  in  their  scheme  of  action  the 
individual,  the  varying:  human  factor, 
finds  scant  consideration. 


So,  in  dealing  with  the  hundreds  of 
blind  soldiers  straggling-  into  Paris  one 
by  one  from  the  bullet-swept  trenches, 
the  overburdened  Ministries  of  "War  and 
the  Interior  gathered  all  into  the  same 
inelastic  category  and  extended  to  all 
the  same  strong  but  impersonal  helping 
hand.  Under  this  regime  the  blind  soldier 
stood  in  no  immediate  danger  of  death 
by  either  starvation  or  exposure,  but 
his  chances  of  ever  becoming  a  contented 
and  useful  member  of  the  community 
we^e  very  remote. 

It  so  happened,  however,  that  about 
the  time  the  Government  leased  the 
building  and  grounds  of  the  convalescent 
home  a  new  wartime  society,  calling  it- 
self "The  Friend  of  the  Blind  Soldier," 
was  organized  under  the  leadership  of  M. 
Rene  Valely-Rarot,  Vice  President  of  the 
famous  Pasteur  Institute.  This  society 
offered  its  services  to  the  Government 
and  requested  the  privilege  of  undertak- 
ing, to  insure  the  individual  welfare  of 
each  blind-  soldier  in  the  proposed  con- 
valescent home. 

The  society  helped  to  revive  the  broker, 
spirits  of  each  man;  to  train  him  in 
one  of  the  several  professions  open  to 
the  blind  for  which  he  seemed  best 
fitted;  to  start  him  in  business  or  secure 
for  him  a  situation,  and  to  keep  a 
benevolent  eye  on  him  all  through  his 
life,  removing  as  far  as  possible  every 
obstacle  In  his  way,  and  smoothing  out 
his  path  at  every  rough  turning. 

The  society's  startling  offer  was  gladly 
embraced  by  the  Government,  and  on 
the  same  day  that  the  blind  soldiers 
took  possession  of  their  new  quarters  it 
moved  in  beside  them  and  commenced  Its 
mission  of  teaching  them  "the  art  of 
being  blind." 

M.  Paul  Emard,  Secretary  General  of 
the  society,  whom  the  Minister  of  the 
Interior  placed  in  charge  of  the  con- 
valescent home,  has  already  wrought  a 
miracle  for  his  blind  dependents,  not  by 
scriptural  "laying  on  of  hands,"  but  by 
more  modern  methoda  that  have  to  do 
with   psychology   and   science. 

In  far-away  Roumania  there  is  a  com- 
munity of  the  blind  which  is  significantly 
named  "The  Lighted  Hearjth."  Paul 
Emard,  backed  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment and  the  society  he  represents,  has 
during  the  past  four  months  created  a 
second  "Lighted  Hearth"  of  the  blind 
community  under  his  direction  in  Paris, 
for  he  has  filled  it  with  the  radiance  of 
hope  where  hope  there  was  none. 

"The  first  three  days  I  spent  here  with 
the  blind,"  he  says,  in  telling  of  his 
work,  "were  passed  in  the  midst  of  a 
sort  of  earthly  purgatory.  I  have  never 
before  seen  so  much  thorough-groing  mis- 


ery  foregathered  in  a  single  place.  My 
charges  moped  through  the  long  hours 
of  the  days,  nursing  their  bitterness. 
The  stillness  of  the  nights  was  broken 
often  and  often  by  their  hoars9  sobs  as 
they  lay  in  torture  on  their  narrow  cots. 

"At  that  time  our  workshops  were  not 
ready,  and  I  was  in  despair  to  know 
what,  to  do  with  the  men.  But  the  end 
of  my  difficulties  came  unexpectedly.  On 
the  fourth  day  of  our  history  here  T  dis- 
coverd  that  our  instructor  in  the  Braille 
system  of  reading  and  writing— himself 
a  blind  man— had  learned  the  trade  of  a 
brushmaker.  He  said  he  could  teach  a 
man  to  make  a  brush  after  a  rough  fash- 
ion,  in   a  few  lours. 


"I  seized  the  opportunity  eagerly;  found 
the  tools  and  materials  for  the  experi- 
ment, and,  selecting  purposely  the  most 
despondent  man  in  the  institution,  set 
him  to  work  on  a  brush  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  Braille  instructor.  The  re- 
sult was  that  that  man  came  to  me,  bo- 
for  the  day  was  over,  cured  of  his  mel- 
ancholy. 

"  'I  am  saved!'  he  told  me.  4I  am  able 
to  do  something  in  life  again!  That  is 
all   I   ask.' 

"Shortly  every  other  unfortunate  ha/i 
heard  his  story.  The  psychological  effect 
was  instantaneous.  From  that  moment 
the  men  began  to  experience  the  cheer- 
ing influence  of  hope.  No  sooner  had  they 
become  aware  of  the  tremendous  fact 
that  they  were  still  good  for  something 
in    the.   world    than   they   took   heart. 

"Half  of  our  task  here  is  psychological. 
Our  work  consists  just  as  m.uch  in  build- 
ing up  the  men's  courage  as-  in  giving 
them  trades  and  professions.  One  of  our 
greatest  cares  is  to  teach  the  blind 
soldier  to  forget  his  misfortune. 

"We  never  permit  the  word  'blind'  to 
be  used  within  the  precincts  at  the  insti- 
tution. Nor  do  we  make  the  mistake  of 
lavishing  sympathy  and  condolence  on 
gloomy  newcomers.  But,  rather,  we  try  to 
help  each  man  to  laugh  away  his  sor- 
row. Work  is  our  best  aid.  We  seek  at 
once  to  divert  the  men's  minds  by  setting 
them  to  a  task  tc  perform.  This  course 
of  treatment  has  never  yet  failed. 

"We  made  the  mistake  at  first  of  trying 
recreation,  concerts,  games,  lectures. 
But  we  quickly  discovered  that  the  men 
deserted    everything   in   favor   of    work. 

"They  would  rather  make  brushes  and 
baskets  or  cane  chairs  than  listen  to  the 
finest  music  we  could  offer  them.  It  was 
the  same  with  games  and  lectures.  We 
found  the  psychological  value  of  work 
superior  to  that  of  any  other  diversion  we 
could  devise." 

A  visit  to  tl.e  workships  at  the  con- 
valescent home  proves  the  worth  of  the 
methods  described  by  M.  Emard.  In  one 
room  a  dozen  blind  men  sit  busily  weav- 
ing cane  seats  into  the  bottoms  of  chairs. 


JLace  MaKmO) 

afie,r  a  cL<xy  in  thc«Shop* 


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The  chairs  come  from  a  near-by  furni- 
ture factory,  and  the  weavers,  new  as 
they  are  lo  the  trade,  are  already  being 
paid  for  their  work.  A  nurse  and  a  blind 
instructor  direct  their  labors.  They  smoke 
avidly  as  They  ply  their  long  bodkins; 
they  talk  critically  of  the  war  situation; 
they  barter  each  other  happily.  They  are 
literally  "made  men"  already— and  thev 
know  it. 

In  another  corner  of  the  same  workshop 
a  handful  of  former  trench  warriors  is 
turning  out  very  passable  willow  bas- 
kets, which  will  sVortly  be  sold  to  provi- 
sion merchants  in  the  big  Parisian  mar- 
kets at  "Los  Halles."  The  proceeds  will 
revert  to  the  pockets  of  the  blind  work- 
men and  keep  them  in  tobacco  for  a  fort- 
night. 

Other  professions,  too,  are  rapidly  de- ' 
veloping  new  votaries  among  the  blind 
soldiers.  A  professor  from  a  Parisian, 
music  school  holds  a  class  in  piano  tun- 
ing three  times  weekly,  there  is  a  dally 
class  in  massage;  typewriting  and  stenog- 
raphy are  being  taught  to  a  score  of 
clerically  inclined  inmates,  and  every  | 
oul  in  the  institution  is  undergoing 
speedy  initiation  into  the  mysteries  of 
reading  with  the  finger-tips  by  the  -Braille 
(System  of  raised  type. 

Many',  too,  are  making  progress  as  per- 
formers  on  the  violin,  the  piano,  the  flute 
and  the  mandolin,  although  more  with 
the  idea  of  keeping  their  hands  and  brains 
occupied  than  with  any  hope  of  shaping 
for  themselves  a  musical  career.  Under 
the  head  of  recreation  also,  lace  making, 
of  a  rude  sort,  forms  another  of  their 
occupations  for  passing  off  an  empty  hour 
In  the  Jong  day. 

Every  morning  regularly  the  blind  sol- 
dier.-" stumble  and  grope  their  way  into 
the  lecture  hall  provided  for  such  occa- 
sions and  listen  intently  to  the  reading  of 
•the  daily  communiques  from  the  fighting 
lines  or  to  any  other  choice  bits  of  newi 
that  reach  Paris  from  their  comrades  in 
the  trenches.  L#ate  every  afternoon,  when 
work  is  over  and  their  hands  are  idle, 
they  locate  their  particular  coteries  of 
friends  and  clutter  off.  group  by  group, 
with  tapping  canes  feeling  their  uncer- 
tain way  before  them,  to  a  favorite  bench 
or  corner  in  the  beautiful  old  17th  century 
gardens. 

There  they  await  the  supper  gong,  soma 
in  making  rude  lace,  some  in  listening  to 
simple  tunes  picked  out  on  a  batteredl 
mandolin,  some  in.  playing  a  quiet  game 
of  "piquet"  with  greasy  cards  whose  de- 
nominations are  marked  by  holes  punched 
with  a  pin,  and  some,  in  lending  ear  to 
white-gowned  nurses  who  give  them  the 
news  from  the  evening  papers  or  read 
to  them  from  much-relished  French  clas- 
sics. 

So  the  blind  soldiers  of  the  French  re- 
public pass  their  apprenticeship  in  the 
school  of  darkness. 


But  the  apprenticeship  must  come  to  an 
end.  The  convalescent  home  has  ac- 
commodations for  only  300  blind,  and  ea« 
timate  says  that  the  war  will  take  a  toll 
of  at  least  2000  pairs  of  eyes  before  peae» 
terms  are.  finally  signed.  So  room  has 
constantly  to  be  made  for  the  despairing 
newcomers,  who  are  to  be  trained  into 
happiness  and  efficiency  again,  and  those 
who  are  inmates- of  the  home  to-day  must 
be  sent  out  with  the  utmost  haste  to  take 
their  places  in  the  world  to-morrow.  Yet 
they  cannot  simply  pass  through  the  front 
door,  return  to  their  homes,  and  com- 
mence the  routine  of  their  lives  unaided. 
They  must  be  started  on  the  way. 

Just  here  is  where  the  society,  "Trm 
Friend  of  the  Blind  Soldier,"  accomplishen 
its  final  and  most  amazing  work.  Some- 
times the  soldier  departing  from  the  con- 
valescent home  is  not  yet '  thoroughly 
proficient  in  his  new  profession,  Under 
these  circumstances  the  society  does  r>ot 
leave  him  to  finish  his  practical  educa- 
tion as  best  he  may. 

It  sends  him  to  a  school  where  he  can 
complete  his  apprenticeship  as  basket- 
maker,  masseur,  -stenographer,  or  what 
not,  and  when  he  finally  becomes  a  fin- 
ished workman  it  finds  him  a  position 
near  his  home,  or  sets  him  up  in  a  small 
business  way  in  his  native  city  or  vil- 
lage. Afterward  it  keeps  in  constant 
touch  with  him  through  its  agents  or  by 
letter,  and  should  be  ever  be  in  want,  ad- 
vances him  funds  to  tide  him  over  tha 
rain3r  days. 

Other  services  in  like  kind  it  renders 
him  also.  If  he  be  a  brush  or  basket 
maker,  who  cannot  find  a  ready  market 
.for  his  product,  the  society  buys  his  out- 
put and  disposes  of  it  for  him.  If  he  be 
in  need  of  materials  to  continue  his  work 
and  fill  his  orders,  the  society  furnishes 
them  to  him  gratis  or  for  a  nominal  price, 
according  to  the  varying  dimension*  of 
his  pocketbook.  If  he  be  out  of  a  job,  th« 
society  finds  him  another. 

In  a  word,  at  every  step  in  his  career, 
it  stands  sponsor  for  his  success;  it  will 
not  let  him  fail.  It  assures  him  immunity 
from  want,  but  in  helping  him— thia 
should  be  carefully  noted— it  teaches  him 
also  to  help  himself  until,  in  the  end,  he 
becomes  the  possessor  of  an  independent 
livelihood  and  the  shame  of  accepting: 
continual  charity  is  spared  him.  His  self- 
respect  remains  intact. 


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VC7V  - 


BUILDS  "LIGHTHOUSE" 
FOR  BLINDED  SOLDIERS 


fiss  Holt  Establishes  New 
Institution  in  France. 


Miss  Winifred  Holt  of  this  city, 
•founder  for  the  * " ■** ' 1 1  UiUlU  (nlftK j.* h A 
blind  entiled  "The  Lighthouse,"  a 
EB^Fifty-ninth  street,  has  estab- 
lished another  "Lighthouse"  at  Bor- 
deaux, Prance,  for  soldiers  blinded  in 
battle,  it  became  known  to-day. 

A  little  over  a  -month  ago  Miss  Holt 
began  the  financing  of  her  new  enter* 
prise  by  organizing  a  committee  thg| 
has  as  Its  officers  Joseph  H.  Choatt^ 
Bishop  Greer  and  Dr.  John  H.  Finley, 
while  the  members  include  ex-Presi- 
dent Taft,  Senator  Gore,  Miss  Emily 
H.  Bourne,  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt, 
Forbes  Morgan  and  ATthur  Williams. 

Miss  Holt  hopes  to  build  up>the  new 
lighthouse  exclusively  with  funds* 
raised  in  America,  iSh«*  has*  the,  tu\\ 
support  of  the  French  military  au«* 
thorties.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Hei 
Holt,  the  publisher*  and  began  he 
work  for  the  blind  nine  years.  ag6 
her  home.  She  Aa  also>  an,  author  a£d 
sculptor. 


v,   W. 


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AMERICANS 

AID   FRENCH 

SOLDIERS 

BLINDED   IN  WAR 


ONE  of  the  saddest  phases  of  the 
European  war  is  the  pitiable 
state  of  the  thousands  of  men 
who,  blinded  in  battle,  will 
have  to  live  the  rest  of  their  lives  un- 
der this  handica.p  and  who  mvist  try 
to  support  themselves  and  their  fam- 
ilies. If  thrown  upon  their  own  re- 
sources it  is  appalling  to  contemplate 
what  their  future  might  be.  The 
Sun  told  recently  of  the  work  being- 
done  by  France  for  her  own  blind 
heroes.  America  now  has  joined  in 
the  work  of  teaching-  them  how  to  de- 
velop resources  not  depending  on 
sight,  so  that  with  the  new  equip- 
ment they  can  adjust  themselves  to 
their   handicap. 

This  readjustment  they,  of  course, 
cannot  bring  about  of  themselves. 
Their  own  Government  and  people 
at  this  harassed  period  of  stress  and 
disorganization  cannot  do  all  that  is 
necessary  for  their  particular  need. 
So  in  this  country  a  movement  has 
been  started  to  help  in  the  work.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  humanitarian  of 
the  many  humanitarian  enterprises 
which  have  revealed  the  breadth  of 
sympathy  in  America  for  the  war's 
victims  in  Europe. 

The  committee  for  men  blinded  in 
battle,  with  Joseph  H.  Choate  as 
president,  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt 
as  secretary  and  Miss  Winifred  I  toll 
doing  field  work  in  Paris,  has  gone 
about  the  work  In  a  systematized 
manner  which  is  bringing  about  sur- 
prisingly   quick    results. 


The  secretary  of  the  committee, 
.Mrs.  Hewitt,  is  responisble  for  the 
tion  of  the  work.  She  was  in 
town  one  of  the  hot  days  last  week, 
signing  500  letters  of  appeal,  which 
were  to  go  out  and  spread  news  of 
this  urgent  need,  and  while  she  was 
writing  her  name  over  and  over 
again  she  told  of  her  experience  in 
Paris  during  the  early  part  of  the 
war.  She  had  given  her  Paris  house 
over  to  be  used  as  a  hospital  and  was 
visiting  the  Quinze-Yingt,  a  hospital 
where  sufferers  from  contagious  dis- 
eases were  being  treated  and  to  which, 
much  to  their  horror,  many  of  the 
earlier  blind  victims  of  trench  war- 
fare were  taken. 

"There  were  in  the  hospital  at  that 
time,"  said  Mrs.  Hewitt,  "eighty-four 
men  whose  eyes  were  gone  and  four 
sisters  attending  them.  It-  was  the 
pity  and  sympathy  of  the  sisters 
which  first  impresed  on  me  the  pathos 
of  it  all.  'Don't  let  him  know!'  I 
heard  a  sister  say.  She  was  speaking 
of  a  man  who  didn't  yet  know  that 
he  would  never  see  again.  She  was 
afraid  to  tell  him,  afraid  that  in  his 
despair  he  might  commit  suicide. 
Once  when  I  was  there  I  saw  two 
men  hopelessly  blinded  and  their 
two  wives;  none  of  them  aware  of  the 
truth — fcur  people  being  kept  in  ig- 
norance out  of  pity  and  out  of  fear 
for  what  they  might  do  if  they  knew 
the  fulness   of  their  disaster." 

It  seemed  to  Mrs.  Hewitt  that  this 
was  one  of  the  situations  calling  for 
immediate  help.  It  has  appealed  simi- 
larly to  many  others.  The  committee 
was  formed,  private  subscriptions 
raised,  and  Mis-.  Holt,  whose  practical 
achievements  in  aiding  the  blind  to  aid 
themselves  carried  out  at  the  Light- 
house on  East  Fifty-ninth  street  need 
no  detailed  mention,  sailed  a  few 
weeks  ago  to  supervise  personally  the 
work  in  Paris. 

"It  is  wonderful,"  said  Mrs.  Hewitt, 
"to  see  how  generously  people  respond, 
there  are  so  many  calls  made  on  hu- 
man sympathies  just  now;  but  we 
have  already  raised  nearly  $15,000. 
And  that,  too,  was  without  any  pub- 
licity. We  just  sent  out  500  letters 
to  persons  we  thought  would  like  to 
help. 

"We  need  money  both  for  finding 
the    sufferers   and    for    the   expense    of 


teaching  them  later.  Some  of  them 
are  marooned  ;n  improvised  hospitals, 
farmhouses  or  chateaux,  many  of 
them  are  congregated  in  the  large  hos- 
pitals or  Red  Cross  stations  where 
they  cannot  receive  the  particular 
kind  of  attention  they  need.  To  these 
blind  soldiers  we  will  send  teachers  to 
furnish  them  with  entertainment 
through  reading  and  games  so  that 
they  may  not  become  depressed  and 
commit  suicide.  The  blinded  men  who 
are  physically  able  will  be  started  at 
once  at  the  task  of  learning  how  to 
work  without  their  eyesight;  their  in- 
dividual interests  and  abilities  will  be 
considered  and  as  far  as  possible  they 
will  be  trained  in  the  trades  and  oc- 
cupations for  which  their  blindness 
had  temporarily  unfitted  them  or  to 
find  new  openings  in  which  they  may 
become  wage  earners. 

"When  they  have  become  proficient 
It  is  hoped,  wherever  possible,  to  re- 
turn them  to  their  home  surroundings 
with  the  knowledge  and  the  tools  to 
make  them  self-helpful.  -When  this  is 
not  practicable  it  is  hoped  to  establish 
them  in  congenial  surroundings  where 
they  may  still  feel  independent  and 
hopeful.  Without  prompt,  expert  as- 
sistance soon  after  loss  of  sight  the 
blind  man.  even  if  his  despondence 
does  not  drive  him  to  a  rash  act.  Is  apt 
to  lose  his  intelligence  or  to  drift  into 
an  apathy  from  which  it  is  difficult 
later  to  arouse  him," 

Miss  Holt  took  with  her  when  she 
sailed  a  French  woman  who  already, 
so  Mrs.  Hewitt  said,  has  learned  two 
cf  the  systems  used  in  reading  by  the 
blind.  All  the  teachers  and  visitors  who 
will  carry  out  this  work  will  be  na- 
tives of  the  country  in  which  the  work 
is  carried  on.  Money  is  required  for 
games,  tools,  writing  appliances,  glass 
eyes',  colored  glasses,  clothes  to  replace 
dirty  and  ragged  uniforms,  for  sal- 
aries, travelling  expenses,  relief,  &c. 

The      committee      is      composed      of 

Joseph    H.    Choate,    president;     Bishop 

Greer,    honorary    chairman;    John    H. 

Finley,   chairman;    Mrs.    Peter   Cooper 

Hewitt,     secretary;      William      Forbes 

M    r-nn.  •!:..  treasurer;    Miss  Emily  H. 

Boufrne,    Miss    Winifred    Ho];.    Senator 

1,.    Satterlee.    William 

Howard    Taft,    Arthur    Williams.    Mrs. 

Belmont,     Mrs.     Nichol 

.    Mrs.    l.    u.   de   <  Mra 

William     K.     Draper,    the     Very     Rev. 


William  -M.  Grosvenor,  Joseph  How- 
land  Hui  t,  Willard  Vr.  Kmg,  Adolph 
Bohn,  Seth  Low.  Mrs.  Low,  the 
Rev.  J.  L.  Magnes.  ihe  Rev.  William 
T.  Manning.  D.  D;  Howard  Mansfield, 
Henry  Phipps,  Jacob  H.  Schiff,  J.  G. 
Bchmidlapp,  Isaac;  N.  Seiigman? 
Francis  Lynde  Stetson,  Samuel  C.  Van 
Dusen.  Felix  M.  Warburg,  Schuyler 
Skaais   Wheeler,  and  Louis  Wiley. 

This  is  the  letter  of  appeal,  500  of 
which  Mrs.  Hewitt  was  signing: 

"Perhaps  the  greatest  individual 
affliction  resulting  from  the  present 
war  is  absolute  blindness,  which  is 
occurring  to  a  greater  extent  than  is 
generally  known.  A  Committee  for 
Men  Blinded  in  Battle  has  been  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  providing  relief 
and  for  their  education,  for  which  we 
ask    your   help. 

'More  than  $10,000  have  already 
been  privately  subscribed  for  this  pur- 
pose, which  has  enabled  Miss  Wini- 
fred Holt  to  go  to  Europe,  and  we 
have  just  received  a  cablegram  say- 
ing that  she  has  already  organized  a 
lighthouse  in  Bordeaux  for  the  ob- 
jects for  which  this  committee  was 
formed. 

So  the  "i'hare  de  bon  Dieu"  has 
been  established,  and  grateful  pa- 
tients are  being  shown  the  way  to  .light 
cut  of  darkness.  Are  they  really 
grateful? — this  is  -one  of  the  ques- 
tions frequently  heard  in  connection 
with  endeavors  being  made  to  alle- 
viate distress.  The  question  was  put 
to    Mrs.    Hewitt. 

"Are  they  grateful?"  she  repeated. 
"1  am  grateful  that  I  was  permitted 
to  see  how  appreciative  they  are,  all 
of  them  are,  for  the  kindnesses  that 
are  done  them." 

The  New  York  headquarters  of  the 
Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle 
is  at  111   East   Fifty-ninth  street. 


Jae,      CK,nr u st i ct-»^    He>-raoLcU. 


ft-yigycsf  U-  u   WIS. 


TRAINING  BLIND 
SOLDIERS  TO  WORK 

A  S  PASTOR    Charles  Wagner  in 

/\  his  last  report  referred  to  the 
/  %  sum  voted  from  the  Christian 
•*-  -^  Herald  Fund  for  "Les  Amis 
des  Aveugles"  (Friends  of  the  Blind), 
our  readers  will  be  interested  in  a 
more  detailed  account  of  the  mag- 
nificent work  being  done  by  that  or- 
ganization. 

The  misfortunes  of  the  blind  always 
touch  the  sympathies  of  every  one ;  but 
the  case  of  these  soldiers  returning 
home  to  face  a  life  of  dependence, 
helplessness  and  darkness,  is  the  sad- 
dest of  the  wounded.  This  war  of 
the  trenches  produces  so  many  head 
wounds  and  an  unusual  number  of 
blind!  But  for  them  the  Maison  de 
Convalescence  at  Renilly,  Paris,  opens 
an  unexpected  road  out  of  their  help- 
lessness and  their  despair. 

Upon  our  first  visit  there  we  were 
received  by  the  director,  M.  Esnard. 
"When  they  find  they  can  work  they 
are  saved,"  he  told  us.  "Saved  from 
what?"   we    asked. 

"From  suicide  or  madness.  These 
men  are  poor,  most  of  them  are  young 
and  with  wife  and  children.  When 
they  realize  their  uselessness  and  de- 
pendence, they  are  in  a  desperate  state 
of  mind.  It  is  to  pull  them  out  of  this 
black  despair  that  this  house  was 
founded.  The  government  could  give 
them  a  pension  sufficient  for  their 
physical  needs,  but  we  realize  that 
that  is  not  enough.  It  is  the  moral 
need  which  is  of  greater  importance." 

The  vocations  usually  taught  to  the 
blind  find  their  place  here,  and  in 
many  cases  are  under  the  charge  of  a 
blind  teacher.  Braille  and  music  are 
for  the  recreation  hours,  but  the 
practical  work  is  on  brushes,  baskets, 
and  willow  articles;  machine  stenog- 
raphy is  an  important  part.  Tele- 
phone boards  specially  fitted  for  the 
blind  open   another  avenue  for   intel- 


ligent  work.  Massage  is  a  practical 
profession  also.  It  is  the  plan  of  the 
management  not  only  to  teach  some 
means  of  self-support,  but  as  soon  as 
learned  to  furnish  each  soldier  with 
the  materials  for  his  first  orders,  and 
also  to  put  him  in  touch  with  a  mar- 
ket, so  that  when  he  returns  to  his 
family  he  is  really  in  a  position  to 
bear  his  share  of  the  family's  care. 

If  you  have  never  seen  a  company 
of  the  blind  in  the  early  days  of  their 
infirmity,  it  is  a  rather  overwhelming 
experience,  and  we  found  ourselves 
with  filling  eyes  and  choking  throat 
when  we  stepped  into  the  courtyard 
where  more  than  a  hundred  men  were 
making  their  way  to  and  from  the 
different  buildings.  The  more  expe- 
rienced walked  without  aid,  and  even 
conducted  others;  the  later  arrivals 
and  the  more  timid  were  guided 
by  nurses  or  volunteer  helpers.  I 
followed  one  bright-faced,  straight- 
backed  young  fellow,  who  started  his 
work  with  a  song;  and  I  wondered,  as 
I  watched  him,  what  could  be  his  in- 
spiration for  song.  It  was  the  joy  of 
work,  I  found;  for  when  I  asked  about 
his  family,  an  inexpressible  sadness 
came  over  his  face  as  he  said :  "My 
wife  is  in  the  invaded  district  and  I 
have  had  no  word  since  the  mobiliza- 
tion." 

All  of  the  articles  are  well  made 
and  marketable.  There  is  no  com- 
pulsion about  the  hours  for  work  nor 
the  kind.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  choice, 
of  privilege.  In  this  institution  there 
are  no  rules  to  break,  for  how  could 
there  be  punishment  for  those  who  al- 
ready have  so  much  to  bear?  "We 
have  only  to  love  them  very  much,  and 
that  is  not  hard;  and  to  teach  them 
how  to  work,"  explained  the  director. 
"There  is  no  trouble  and  we  are  re- 
paid every  day  by  their  progress." 
Adelaide    B.    Hyde. 


Tle,ixJ   ^nrK,,  71.  W.,  'J -rub 


*vX^VU^^- 


A. 


erica  s 


^^  «6 


S>* 


of    t 


oioiers 


Miss  Wirairaifred  Molt  Has  Been  Ses^t  to 

Bordeatis    to.   Le&d    the    Sightless 

Victims  of  War  Into  the  Light. 

By  GEORGE  PAYNE. 

THAT  an  American  woman  has  been 
accepted  as  the  instructor  of 
French  specialists  in  the  work  of 
"reclaiming"  soldiers  who  have  been 
blinded  in  battle  and  teaching  them  to 
"see"  again  is  the  interesting  news 
that  friends  of  Miss  Winifred  Holt 
have  brought  back  from  France. 

Miss  Holt,  it  will  be  remembered,  is 
the  founder  and  leading  spirit  of  the 
Lighthouse,  the  institution  of  the  New 
York  Association  for  the  Blind,  in  East 
Fifty-ninth  Street,  which  has  done  so 
much  to  make  blind  people  self-sup- 
porting. 

Several  months  ago  Miss  Holt  went 
abroad  as  the  representative  of  a  com- 
mittee on  men  blinded  in  battle,  and 
already  she  has  done  so  much  good  in 
France  that  it  is  proposed  to  have  a 
"Phare  Americain"  in  imitation  of  the 
Lighthouse  in  East  Fifty-ninth  Street. 
Last  week  Miss  Holt  opened  the 
"phare"  of  Bordeaux  for  soldiers  and 
sailors  who  had  been  blinded  in  bat- 
tle. 

In  a  letter  to  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee on  men  blinded  in  battle  Miss 
Holt  describes  her  arrival  in  Bordeaux 
and  her  visit  to  the  great  military  hos- 


pital  there,  which   is  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Dr.  Martin  du  Majny. 

"As  I  know  German  fluently,  I  asked 
to  see  the  German  prisoners.  I  was 
permitted  to  have  interviews  with 
them,  and  they  talked  with  me  frankly 
and  apparently  with  great  pleasure. 
There  were  five  in  all.  They  seemed 
extremely  grateful  for  the  excellent 
treatment  they  had  received  at  the 
hospital.  Subsequently  I  was  able  to 
help  the  authorities  a  little  by  reading 
some  of  the  German  letters  of  these 
men  from  their  families.  They  all 
gave  enthusiastic  accounts  of  their  re- 
ception in  France.  One  of  them  said 
that  when  he  was  picked  up  by  a 
French  ambulance  and  put  onto  a 
train  he  received  a  pint  of  milk,  a 
plate  of  beef  and  potatoes,  some  choc- 
olate and  six  raw  eggs  for  a  trip  of 
eight  hours.  I  did  not  find  any  in  this 
hospital  who  were  anxious  to  fight 
again.  They  had  all  been  too  sorely 
stricken. 

"In  the  mean  time  we  investigated 
other  hospitals,  especially  the  one 
where  the  blind  are  congregated  under 
the  care  of  the  world  famous  Dr.  La- 
grange. Dr.  Lagrange  was  equally  cor- 
dial about  our  mission.  He  said  that 
about  sixty  blind  soldiers  had  passed 
through  his  hands.  He  summoned  into 
his  study  and  introduced  to  me  Lieu- 
tenant Du  Maine.  This  young  man  had 
been  wounded  in  the  shoulder  and  the 
thigh  at  the  battle  of  Charleroi.  He 
continued  fighting  until  both  of  his 
eyes  were  shot  out  and  he  fell  uncon- 
scious on  the  battlefield.  He  remained 
there  for  three  days,  without  food  or 
drink,  feigning  dead,  so  that  the  Ger- 
mans would  not  take  him.  Finally,  as 
no  French  came  to  the  rescue,  he  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Germans,  and 
remained  in  prison  for  eight  weeks, 
suffering  greatly  from  his  wounds. 
He  was  finally  exchanged  and  placed 
in  the  hospital  where  I  saw  him.  He 
was  wearing  a  war-stained  uniform 
and  is  decorated  with  the  Legion 
d'Honneur  and  the  Medaille  de  Guerre, 
which  he  had  received  for  his  astound- 
ing valor.     He  was   the   leading   spirit 


of  a  little  group  of  blind  men, 
whom  later  he  introduced  to  me. 
On*  had  been  fearfully  disfigured 
by  shrapnel,  which  had  removed 
the  modelling:  from  his  face  and 
completely  blinded  him.  He  was  still. 
however,  a  stalwart,  fine  presence  from 
his  shoulders  down,  and  had  a  great 
vibrating,  bass  voice.  His  profession 
was  that  of  carpentry.  There  were  two 
little  farmers — very  small  and  infi- 
nitely pathetic  in  their  blindness. 
There  was  still  another  carpenter, 
whose  sense  of  fun  had  survived  the 
loss  of  sight.  There  was  one  great 
blond  Viking — a  Swede,  about  seven 
feet  tall  and  very  handsome.  The  ac- 
cident, without  disfiguring  him,  had 
merely  closed  his  eyes  for  all  time, 
giving  an  almost  Madonna-like  appear- 
ance to  the  closed  lids.  He  had  been  a 
salesman  in  a  great  Paris  store. 

"There  was  no  horizon  at  all  for  any 
of  these  men  in  their  blindness.  I  de- 
termined that  there  should  be,  and  told 
them  so,  and  gave  each  one  the  hope  of 
a  useful  and  happy  life  when  we  had 
opened  our  Lighthouse  for  the  valiant 
soldiers  of  the  4Sud-Ouest'  in  Bor- 
deaux. 

"We  all  had  our  pictures  taken,  to 
the  intense  amusement  of  the  blind 
men,  and  I  finally  left  the  once  pa- 
thetic group  in  a  merry,  hopeful  mood. 

"We  discovered  in  Bordeaux  l'Abbe 
Moureau,  a  marvellously  capable  man, 
progressive,  intellectual  and  humorous. 
For  eighteen  years,  entirely  by  his  own 
effort,  he  had  financed  and  educated  a 
little  group  of  industrial  blind  in  brush 
making  and  basket  making.  The  war 
had  deprived  him  of  all  possible  in- 
come to  keep  his  people  together. 
Being  a  remarkable  naturalist,  he  had 
gathered  a  great  collection  of  butter- 
flies, which  he  had  just  sold  to  keep  a 
few  of  his  blind  people  busy.  The 
price  of  willows  and  brushes  is  almost 
prohibitive  here  and  everybody  is  poor. 
The  abbe's  work  had  been  carried  on 
in  an  old  building  adjoining  a  church, 
and  a  very  lovely  cloister  full  of  beau- 
tiful flowers  and  vines  was  used  by  the 


Miss  Winnifred  Holt,  Whose  Task  It  Is  to  Remedy  in  Her  Peculiar 
Way  One  of  the  Most  Tragic  Cruelties  of  the  Great  War. 


blind  people  for  their  recreation.  We 
persuaded  the  abbe  to  increase  his 
plant,  to  take  the  young  blind  lieuten- 
ant as  his  aide-de-camp,  and  to  receive 
the  blind  soldiers  of  the  southwest  re- 
gardless of  race  or  creed.  We  agreed 
to  instruct  the  lieutenant  in  the  arts, 
crafts  and  intellectual  pursuits  of  the 
blind,  so  that  he  would  be  able  to 
direct  his  little  group. 

"With  the  assistance  of  the  abbe  we 
perfected  and  enlarged  his  organiza- 
tion, ^which  has  now  among  its  officers 
Dr.  Lagrange  as  chief  oculist.  Dr.  du 
Majny  as  chief  doctor  and  surgeon  and 
Monsieur  Dumelle  as  chief  business 
manager.  The  abbe  remains  a  director 
of  the  whole  establishment  and  spe- 
cialist in  industrial  work.  The  little 
lieutenant,  who  is  highly  educated,  will 
be  a  specialist  in  intellectual  pursuits 
and  the  re-education  of  the  blind,  so 
that  they  may  take  up  as  far  as  pos- 
sible their  former  occupation — thanks 
to  the  Lighthouse  of  Bordeaux. 

"Inclosed  is  a  picture  of  the  court  of 
what  is  now  called  the  Bordeaux  Light- 
house, where  the  first  blind  soldiers 
have  been  asked  to  lead  happy,  studi- 
ous lives  in  preparation  for  inde- 
pendent and  useful  careers  to  follow  a 
proper  preparation  for  their  changed 
outlook. 

"The  Bordeaux  Lighthouse,  when 
necessary,  will  provide  tools  and  ma- 
terials for  the  blind  who  have  been 
educated  and  who  have  returned  to 
their  homes.  It  will  also  have  a  com- 
mittee including  home  teachers  to  visit 
the  independent  blind,  to  drum  up 
work  for  them  and  to  enlist  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  leading  citizens  in  their 
neighborhood." 

The  Committee  on  Men  Blinded  in 
Battle,  of  which  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper 
Hewitt  is  secretary,  emphasizes  the 
necessity  of  having  more  funds  to  aic 
in  the  work  that  is  being  done 
France,  for  the  soldiers  of  not 
^France  but  of  Germany  also. 


the 
d  ai<L 

onjJV 


■p. 


o  Y" 


tuaLvuJU,  ^U.,    <C^">p^^r^±>^ 


a 


•^-gr-y 


t    ^-    IJI5". 


,<T$*AID    BLIND. 

*o  thousands   of  soldiers 
who    have    losf*W»r    eyesight    in    the 
•  'an     v.  ar,    a    score    of    prominent 
Yorker's   have   organized   the  eom- 
n    Winded   in   battle.   Tb's 
Frganizatiop    was    formed    as    a    result 
of    urgent   appeals    from    Miss   Winifred 
Ho'*,    s  i  retai -y    of   the    New    York    As- 
sociation  for   the   blind,   who  is   now   in 

c^,    ^.xniiicti     wtjnf 

there  in  behalf  of  blinded  soldiers. 
That  there  are  now  more  than  5,000 
blind  soldiers  in  Paris  alone  is  stated 
in  a  recent  cablegram.  The  message 
also  stated  that  with  the  help  of  the 
French  government  a  heme  for  the 
blind,  or  "lighthouse"  as  it  is  techni- 
cally called  in  this  charitable  work 
had  been  established  at  Bordeaux.  The 
plan  of  the  new  organization  here 
is  to  promote  as  many  more  of  these 
"lighthouses"  in  all  belligerent  coun- 
tries? as  may  be  needed  to  care  for  the 
blind  soldiers,  whose  numbers  now  run 
into  the  thousands.  The  first  step 
to  be  undertaken  in  this  work  is  to 
relieve  the  immediate  material  needs 
of  the  sufferers.  The  second  is  to  teach 
some  useful  trade  or  occupation  so 
that  these  blind  may  become  not  on- 
ly self-supporting:  but  also  successful- 
ly fight  the  despondence  which  comes 
to  those  who  lose  their  eyesight. 
Trench  warfare  has  resulted  in  a 
great  number  of  wounds  to  the  should- 
ers and  heads  of  soldiers,  the  latter 
ng  the  high  percentage  of  blind- 
ness. Other  contributing  factors  have 
been  the  poisonous  gases,  running 
'u]  concussion  from  heavy  artll- 
u-ing.  The  committee  is  inaugti- 
a  campaign  to  provide  the  nec- 
money  to  afford  the  relief  rt- 
y^Mh l 


7L 


X    o 


•  d  •.    ^ele^-ra^i 


irv. 


a* 


3,1^5. 


Elsie  Janis  feels  a  just  pride  in  the 
fact  that  while  in  England  she  sold 
her  poem,  "Where  Are  You,  God?"  for 
$2,500,  the  proceeds  of  which  went  to 
help  the  Vi !h^PJJLil>BWWWWllU  ^T~  reward  of 
labor  could  be  more  gratifying  than 
that  which  helped  to  bring  a  measure 
of  comfort  to  the  heroes  who  have 
been  brought  down  into  the  dark 
valley. 


Bostov^  ,   YVUa^SS.,   Globes 


Competitive  athletics  for  the  b«TTd 
is  a  common  thing  nowadays,  but  row- 
ing is  something  new  for  the  sightless. 
In  England  recently  there  have  been 
several  miniature  regattas  for  the  blind. 
The  blind  soldiers  and  sailors  rowed  a 
series  of  races  against  the  blind  of 
Worcester  College  on  a  stretch  of  the 
Thames  at  Putney  and  the  soldiers  and 
sailors  won  two  out  of  three  races. 


~^T>  «x  yj      "I 


.  z 


4,000  BUSH)  FRENCH  SOLDIERS. 


That  NnmberUbParls  Alone,  "Writes 
MiJT Wyfred  Holt. 

The  ComAit^r  for  Men  Blinded  in 
Battle,  whifth^s  raising  money  here  to 
establish  "lighthouses"  for  blinded  sol- 
diers in  various  parts  of  Europe,  has  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Miss  Winifred  Holt 
telling  of  her  work  in  connection  with  the 
first  lighthouses  opened  in  Paris.  Miss 
Holt,  who  has  gone  abroad  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Committee,  has  been  ap- 
pointed expert  in  blindness  for  the  Amer- 
ican Relief  Clearing  House  in  Paris.  In 
her  letter,  addressed  to  Mrs.  Peter  Cooper 
Hewitt,   she  writes: 

"We  have  begun  teaching  in  the  hos- 
pitals here  and  have  among  our  pupils 
two  very  interesting  and  grateful  blind 
officers  who  will  make  good  teachers  and 
attractive  agents  for  the  Paris  Light- 
house when  it  is  opened.  We  have  found 
all  the  blind  men  in  the  hospitals  of  Paris 
and  some  in  their  homes.  I  estimate  that 
there  must  be  from  3,000  to  4,000  blind 
soldiers  in  this  immediate  neighborhood, 
but  the  Government  knows  of  only  200. 
This  shows  you  how  very  important  our 
coming  is. 

"Theyre  is  no  doubt  that  we  will  have  at 
least  one  building  here,  to  be  a  salesroom, 
information  bureau,  census  bureau,  train- 
ing station,   etc.,   for  the   blind.     We  will 


have  a  home  teaching  force  to  find  the 
men,  wherever  they  may  be,  and  give 
them  light.  The  Clearing-  House  and  Red 
Cross  will  help  in  our  search.  We  are 
now  forming  a  French  committee  on 
which  we  will  put  the  leading  educators 
of  the  blind  and  representatives  of  the 
various  departments  of  the  Government. 
We  will  call  our  Lighthouse  'Le  Phare  du 
Comite  International  Franco-Am6ricain  I 
pour  les  Soldats  aveugles  au  champs 
d'honneur.'  " 

Miss  Holt  says  that  at  least  fifty  teach- 
ers are  needed  in  addition  to  funds  for 
salaries,  materials  for  work,  and  clothes, 
which  the  Government  will  not  give  at 
present,  and  to  fit  up  the  hostel  for  of- 
ficers. 


Yle,W  .  »jV^b 


^n^. 


■o\~  IS. 


BLIND  THANK  U.  S. 

louses  Encourage  Thera, 
Message  from  Front. 

In  a  communication  to  Mrs.  Peter 
Cooper  Hewitt,  Miss  Winnifred  Holt, 
representing  the  Committee  for  Men 
Blinded  in  Battle  abroad,  tells  of  the 
apnrgftifh*i<m  shown  by  all  classes  in 
France  for  the  work  carried  on  there 
by  the  committee. 

Miss  Holt  has  also  transmitted  a  let- 
ter she  received  from  the  president  of 
the  Bordeaux  Lighthouse.  It  reads,  in 
part: 

"Proud  of  the  wounds  which  they 
have  received  for  their  country,  the 
soldiers  will\draw,  from  the  sympathy 
which  comes  to  them  through  you  from 
the  great  nation  which  is  a  friend  of 
France,  a  new  courage  and  new  power 
to  bear  their  misfortune." 

The  committee  is  trying  to  raise 
funds  necessary  to  build  lighthouses 
in  all  of  the  European  countries  in- 
volved in  the  war. 


YLc/W    ^rK/,  TU.  i>f..  J^ 


s. 


GL- 


sfc    I  4-.  Rt5" 


FOR  BLINDED  SOLDIERS. 


\rnerican  > 

5fwf  Peter 


fican  Aid  Sought  for  a  "Light- 
louse"  in  Paris. 
Peter  Cooper  Hewitt,  Secretary 
of  the  Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in 
Battle,  has  received  a  letter  from  Miss 
Winifred  Holt,  who  is  representing  the 
committee  in  Europe  and  is  establish- 
ing a  lighthouse  for  the  blind  in  Paris, 
detailed  the  work  that  is  being  done. 
"  We  have  begun  teaching  in  the  hospi- 
tals," says  Miss  Holt,  "  and  we  have 
among  our  pupils  two  very  interesting 
and  grateful  blind  officers,  who  will 
make  good  teachers  for  the  Paris  Light- 
house. I  estimate  that  there  must  be 
from  3,000  to  4,000  blind  soldiers  in  this 
immediate  neighborhood,  but  the  Gov- 
ernment knows  of  only  200.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  we  will  have  at  least  one 
building  here,  to  be  a  salesroom,  infor- 
mation bureau,  census  bureau,  training 
station,  &c.',  for  the  blind.  We  will 
have  a  home  teaching  force  to  find  the 
men  wherever  they  may  be.  We  are 
now  forming  a  French  Committee,  on 
which  we  will  put  the  leading  educators 
of  the  blind  and  representatives  of  the 
various  departments  of  the  Government. 
The  Lighthouse  is  to  be  called  '  Le 
Phare  du  Comit6  International  Franco- 
Americain  pour  'es  Soldats  Aveugles  aux 
Champs  d'Honneur.' 

"  A  corps  of  at  least  fifty  teachers  is 
needed  to  cope  with  our  work.  Funds 
are  needed  for  salaries,  materials  for 
work,  clothes— which  the  Government 
will  not  give  us  here  at  present— and  to 
fit  up  the  hostel  for  officers,  which  we 
will  have  in  connection  with  the  light- 
house for  the  men  who  are  to  train 
there. 

"  The  Ambassador  and  Mrs.  Sharp  will 
aid  us  as  much  as  possible,  and  we  have 
already  had  offers  of  very  able  volun- 
teer assistance.  The  Comtesse  de  Pien- 
nes  has  promised  to  send  me  the  names 
of  the  soldiers  who  have  been  blinded 
in  the  Vosges  and  Meuse  departments. 
They  are  very  numerous,  and  without 
any  help  save  the  coming  opening  of  a 
hospital  for  the  blind,  of  which  the  head 
nurse  is  stone  deaf." 

The  committee  is  carrying  on  a  cam- 
paign to  raise  funds  for  the  building 
of  lighthouses  for  the  blind  in  all  the 
warring  countries.  Its  headquarters  are 
q£J.ll  East  Fifty-ninth  Street. 


^A>n^>  b^u^nr^w^  >     Y\s*  M*?  Ui'ti7>wYu. 


Q,- 


st:   1 4-.  1^15". 


Teachers   for   BUndNeeded. 

New  York,  Aug^TS^^Lt  least  50 
teachenlQlre  needed  in  the  light- 
housefforJ blind  soldiers  which  has 
"been  Established  in  Paris  by  the  com- 
mittee for  men  blinded  in  battle,  ac- 
cording to  a  letter  received  here 
from  Miss  Winifred  Holt,  who  is 
representing  the  committee  in  Eu- 
rope. 

Miss  Holt  wrote  that  she  is  now 
forming  a  French  committee  com- 
posed of  leading  educators  of  the 
blind  and  of  representatives  of  vari- 
ous departments  of  the  French  gov- 
ernment to  have  charge  of  the  new 
lighthouse.  She  estimated  that  there 
were  3,000  to  4,000  blind  soldiers 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
the  lighthouse  and  said  that  efforts 
were  being  made  to  find  others.      ^* 


"Y\ 


H  £/"Y~JU^   ^ 


Miss  Holt  Seeks  Aid  for 
Thousands  Blinded  in  War 
Work  and  Play  Fits  Blind 
'Tommies' for  Place  in  Life 

■  —  » 
Men  Whose  Sight  Is  Gone  and  Who  Are  Being  Trained  at  St. 
Dunstan's  to  Take  New  Place  in  World  Win  Hotly 
Contested  Races  on  the  Thames^ 

[Special    to    the   Herald.] 

Herald  Bureau,       ") 

No.   130  Fleet  Street,  \ 

London,  Aug.  3.       ) 

Correspondents  at  the  seats  of  war,  east 


and  west,  have  testified  again  and  again 
to  the  Indestructible  good  humor  of  the 
British  "Tommy"  in  all  sorts  of  circum- 
stances, and  one  could  well  believe  it  after 
seeing  him  in  a  rowing  match  at  Putney. 

It  was  due  to  the  energy  of  Mr.  C.  Ar- 
thur Pearson,  the  founder,  of  the  St. 
Dunstan's  Hostel  for  Blind  Soldiers  and 
Sailors  at  Regent's  Park,  that  a  series  of 
rowing  matches  between  the  blind  soldier 
oarsmen  and  students  of  Worcester  Col- 
lege for  the  Higher  Education  of  the 
Blind  were  arranged.  There  was  a  great 
gathering  of  sightless  sportsmen,  including 
sixty  soldiers  from  St.  Dunstan's,  and  a 
cheerier  lot  it  would  have  been  hard  to 
find  In  London.  These  blind  "Tommies" 
were  the  Mark  Tapleys  of  the  Putney 
course,  and  their  splendid  optimism  was 
justified  by  St.  Dunstan's  victory  in  two 
out  of  three  races. 

Those  who  went  to  Putney  with  the 
tragic  side  of  blindness  uppermost  in  their 
minds  soon  had  such  thoughts  dispelled. 
The  sight  of  well  built  athletes,  robbed 
of  one  of  Nature's  greatest  gifts,  being 
led  by  attentive  friends— every  lad  has 
his  lassie,  by  the  way— was  not  free  from 
a  certain  amount  of  pathos.  Each  man 
showed  such  enthusiasm  in  the  racing, 
however,  and  seemed  through  some  sup- 
plementary instinct  to  mentally  visualize 
so  well  what  was  going  on  that  the  sense 
of  loss  after  a  while  disappeared  in  the 
background. 

The  friends  of  the  competitors  were  on 
board  a  big  river  launch.  They  cheered 
and  urged  on  the  oarsmen  with  an  aban- 
don that  the  mere  seeing  man  would  not 
have  the  courage  to  display.  One  great 
hearted  lad  from  La  Bassee,  a  Scot  who 
had  lost  his  sight  through  fifteen  pieces 
of  shrapnel  striking  him  in  the  head,  was 
simply  Irrepressible.  His  cry  of  "St. 
Dunstan's"  could  be  heard  almost  at  Rich- 
mond, despite  the  western  breeze.  He 
yelled  "hurry  up,  Walter"  to  a  pal  who 
was  rowing  In  the  doubles,  carefully  took 
the  times  of  the  races  with  a  special 
Brallle-faced  watch  and,  mounting  a  chair 
on  the  upper  deok,  did  his  barracking  with 
such  ecstasy  that  the  little  woman  by  his 
side,  who  was  "reading  the  race"  to  him, 
became  quite  alarmed  for  his  safety. 

In  the  rowing  boats  there  was  just  as 
much  keenness,  too.  The  first  race,  for 
singles,  about  half  a  mile  long,  was  be- 
tween Captain  W.  Owen,  of  the  Cape 
Mounted  Rifles,  an  old  Bedford  Modern 
School  boy  of  eighteen  years  ago,  who 
was  blinded  In  South  Africa,  while  fight- 
ing the  Germans,  and  Mr.  J.  E.  Tracy,  of 
Worcester.  The  Captain  made  a  good 
attempt  to  overcome  the  lack  of  training, 
but  was  beaten  by  a  length,  and  had  to 
be  lifted  onto  the  towing  path,  so  great 
was  his  exhaustion. 

In  the  doubles  Private  Woollen,  of 
the  Second  Wilts,  and  Private  Crom- 
well, of  the  Fifth  Gloucester,  went  away 


magnificently  In  the  middle  of  the 
stream.  They  stroked  through  with  fine 
effect,  and  although  the  Worcester  pair 
made  a  stubborn  challenge  toward  the 
end  and  reducted  a  two  lengths  deficit  the 
"Tommies"  kept  a  straight  course  and 
won  by  a  bare  length.  Mr.  L#.  W.  Pass- 
more,  the  blind  bow  of  the  losers,  Is  a 
full  fledged  solicitor,  by  the  way,  and 
some  of  the  students  at  Worcester  have 
most  ambitious  Ideas  in  regard  to  the 
professions  for  which  they  are  being 
trained. 

The  fours  race,  like  the  doubles,  about 
1,000  yards  long,  was  not  so  well  con- 
tested. The  soldiers  won  all  the  way  ana 
passed  the  post  three  lengths  ahead,  after 
which  our  Scotch  friend  from  La  Bass6e, 
the  leader  of  the  chorus,  exhausted  by  his 
efforts,  made  an  eager  call  for  refresh- 
ments, with  which  the  party  on  board 
were  generously  provided. 

The  form  of  the  winners  reflected  great 
credit  on  them.  For  men  who  never  had 
done  any  rowing  before  It?  was  wonderful. 
They  splashed  but  little  and  under  the 
careful  coaching  of  Mr.  Colcutt,  of  the 
Vesta  Rowing  Club,  they  turned  out  a 
real  good  team. 

The  practical  as  well  as  the  sporting 
aide  of  life  Is  being  well  looked  after  at 
St.  Dunstan's.  The  "Tommies"  have  their 
walking,  swimming  and  rowing,  and  they 
follow  more  serious  pursuits  just  as  keen- 
ly. They  are  learning  massage,  typewrit- 
ing, joinery,  boot  repairing,  basket  and 
mat  making,  and  many  have  already 
passed  the  Braille  tests  for  the  blind.  It 
is  a  great  thing  they  are  doing  at  St. 
Dunstan's,  taking  these  broken  victims  of 
war  and  turning  them  into  happy,  self- 
supporting  members  of  the  community,, all 
wearing  the  smile  that  positively  refuses 
to  come  off. 


?ttei 


Letfer  from  American  Woman 
Tells  of  Work  for  Sight- 
less Soldiers. 


A    HEARTRENDING   TASK 


Fifty  More  Teachers  Needed  to  In- 
struct Patients  in  Hospitals 
and  Their  Homes. 


In  a  letter  received  by  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Committee  for  Men 
Blinded    In    Battle      Miss    Winifred    Holt 

ells  of  the  work  she  is  -Going  in  France 


for  the  soldiers  who  have  lost  their  sight 
at  the  front.  Miss  Holt  recently  was  ap- 
pointed expert  in  blindness  for  the  Ameri- 
can Relief  Clearing  House.  Her  letter 
says:— 

"W©  hay©  begun  teaching  in  the  hos- 
pitals here  and  have  among  our  pupils 
two  very  interesting  and  grateful  blind 
officers  who  will  make  good  teachers  and 
attractive  agents  for  the  Paris  Lighthouse' 
when  it  is  opened.  We  have  found  all  the 
blind  men  in  the  hospitals  of  Paris  and 
some  in  their  homes.  I  estimate  that  there 
must  be  from  three  thousand  to  four  thou- 
sand blind  soldiers  in  this  immediate 
neighborhood,  but  the  government  knows 
of  only  200.  This  shows  you  how  very  im- 
portant our  coming  is. 

"The  work  is  very  heartrending,  but  un- 
speakably essential.  We  found  a  blind  sol- 
dier the  other  day  who  had  not  left  his 
room  in  the  (hospital  since  his  accident  and 
was  afraid  to  walk.  After  Mile.  Passodoit 
had  talked  to  him  and  told  him  of  Fau- 
cett's  wonderful  life  the  man  jumped  up, 
looking  a  new  human  being  and— to  the 
amazezement  of  his  nurse  and  everybody 
else— strode  forth,  with  his  head  lifted 
(high,  into  the  corridor  and  walked  up  and 
down  with  his  hands  behind  his  back  like 
any  other  proud  man.  That  is  what  hope 
does  for  those  people  who  -were  desperate 
until  we  brought  them  light. 

"We  should  have  a  corps  of  at  least 
fifty  teachers  to  cope  with  our  work. 
Funds  are  needed   for  salaries,    materials 


for  work,  clothes,  which  the  government; 
will  not  give  us  here  at  present,  and  to. 
fit  up  the  hostel  for  officers  which  we  will  I 
have  in  connection  with  the  Lighthouse 
for  the  men  we  are  to  train  there.  We  will 
keep  the  hostel  as  small  as  possible  and  it 
will  be  run  by  a  special  committee  of  wom- 
en, Mrs.  Bliss  being  among  them.  Of 
course,  every  step  has  been  carefully  gone 
over  with  the  French  and  the  American* 
best  qualified  to  advise,  and  I  am  not  con- 
scious of  having  made  any  blunders  or 
lost  any  time  so  far. 

"Thank  you  very  much  for  the  great  relief 
which  your  cable  brought  announcing  that 
we  had  $1,500  more  for  our  fund.  To  meet 
in  any  way  tnis  tremendous  problem  which 
faces  us  we  will  have  to  spend  a  great  deal 
of  money,  no  matter  how  much  the  gov- 
ernment helps  or  how  economical  we  are." 
Miss  Holt  told  of  several  cases  which 
already  have  been  relieved.  One  of  .the 
most  pathetic  of  these  is  that  of  a  young 
officer  who  has  lost  his  eyesight,  one 
arm,  and  has  only  two  fingers  remaining 
on  the  hand  of  the  other  arm.  Writing 
of  ihim,  she  said:— 

"He  is  doing  wonderfully  and  is  full  of 
hope  and  light.  His  fiancee  comes  'from 
Corsica  to  see  him  at  the  end  of  this 
week.  I  am  to  see  her  before  she .  has 
the  shock  of  receiving  what  remains  of 
her  soldier,  so  as  to  prepare  her  to  ap- 
preciate what  life  may  still  hold  for  them 
both." 

The  Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in  Bat- 
tle is  carrying  out  an  active  campaign  in 
this  country  to  raise  the  funds  necessary 
ent  European  nations  involved  in  this 
to  build  Lighthouses  in  all  of  the  differ- 
great  war  and  to  extend  the  result  of  its 
work  to  the  soldiers  of  all  nations  who 
may  suffer  the  most  discouraging  of  all 
Injuries,  the  loss  of  their  eyesight.  Mr. 
Joseph  H.  Choate  is  president  of  the  com- 
mittee. 


B 


a-^cofi 


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fe   >#-  tq  »s*. 


BEETHJVEN  AT  THE  FRONT 


•eriph  Corporal's  Meeting  With 
inMJnterrific^JBIind  Piamist 
A  remarkable  instanceoftra  power 
of  music  to  render  its  devotees  obliv- 
ious even  to  the  horrors  .of  war  is  re- 
corded in  a  letter  from  a  French  Cor- 
poral on  the  Champagne  front,  pub- 
lished in  The  Journal  de   Geneve. 


"Last  night,"  the  corporal  writes, 
"I  was  on  guard  in  a  little  village. 
The  Prussian  tornado  had  passed  that 
way.  I  had  to  take  up  my  quarters 
with  four  men  in  an  abandoned 
house,  or  rather  a  ruin.  I  had  given 
my  men  their  orders,  and  had  settled 
myself  in  an  old  fireplace  to  eat  a  lir- 
tle  supper  when  suddenly  I  heard, 
close  to  me,  someone  playing  the 
marvelous  'Moonlight  Sonata'  of 
Beethoven.  It  seemed  infinitely 
strange,  in  an  almost  deserted  village, 
in  the  midst  of  so  much  rui-n.  to  hear 
this    divine    sonata. 

"I  immediately  arose  and  took 
pains  to  inform  myself  whence  the 
music  could  proceed.  I  was  not  long 
in  finding  out  that  alongside  my  den 
was  another  ruin  from  which  came 
the  sound  of  playing.  I  rapped  oif 
the  door,  and  the  voice  of  a  woman 
answered.  I  apologised,  and  said  to 
her  that  the  music  in  her  house 
sounded  ^beautiful.  She  bade  me  en- 
ter,  and  said: 

"'It  is  my  son,  who  is  blind;  and 
if  you  wish  to  give  him  pleasure, 
come  and  keep  him  company.' 

"I  did  not  need  a  second  invitation. 

"A  curious  spectacle  presented  it- 
self. In  a  room  showing  the  ravages 
of  the  plague  o£  war  was  a  piano, 
still  intact,  and  at  the  instrument  a 
tall  blond  young  man,  who  was  blind. 
Mother  and  son  had  been  unwilling 
to  leave  their  home  in  spite  of  the 
shells  which  had  fallen  around  it, 
and  were  still  falling,  from  time  to 
time.  The  mother  presented  me,  and 
the  young  man  approached  me  with 
his  hand  extended  and  at  once,  to 
please  me,  sat  down  at  his  cherished 
piano — a  moving  sight. 

"I  listened  to  Wagner,  Schubert, 
Beethoven,  Mozart,  Chopin,  Saint- 
Saens,  Massenet,  etc.,  within  two  kilo- 
meters of  the  firing  line.  I  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  to  stare  at  the 
great  darkened  eyes  of  this  poor, 
handsome  young  man,  and  in  his 
face,  lighted  up  with  enthusiasm,  I 
found  something  supernatural.  .And 
at  last  he  played  me  something  of  his 
own  composition.  How  beautiful  it 
was!  What  unsuspected  talent  in 
this  poor  lost  village! 

"But  it  was  time  to  rejoin  my  men. 
When  the  composer  struck  the  last 
chords  I  thought  I  should  have 
wept."  g— ■OTTWMa 


.Qostovv^,    VVla/SS.,     JrA>yvSCru[v/,t. 


THE  SADDEST  PHASES  OF  WAR 


The  Young  Men  Made  Blind— The  Pathos 
of  Their  Situation — A  CUMULI  Between 
the  Alleviated  Suffering  and  That  Which 
Is  Not  Alleviated 


[From  the  Munich  Correspondence  of  Rev.  William 
E.  Nies  in  the  Living  Church] 

In  my  last  letter  I  wrote  of  the  situation 
of  the  crippled  soldier  which  has  a  side 
of  growing  relief  because  of  what  can  be, 
and  is  being,  done.  There  is  another  class 
of  the  injured  which  has  greater  pathos 
and  depression  connected  with  it,  such  as 
cannot  be  shaken  off  by  those  trying  to 
help  them.  I  mean  now  the  blind.  Their 
blindness  is  so  new,  they  are  so  little 
used  to  it,  they  are  so  much  in  the  dark 
and  away  from  their  long-accustomed 
bearings,  that  they  seem  utterly  helpless 
—not  at  all  like  people  long  blind.  The 
most  of  them  are  so  in  the  flush  of  3routh 
that  they  seem  like  big,  eager,  healthy 
boys  suddenly  deprived  of  one-half  of  what 
makes  them  alive  and  joyous.  Wonderful 
is  the  light,  and  wonderful  is  the  eye,  and 
merciful  is  the  good  God  that  made  them 
so  good;  and  we  don't  realize  this  enough 
till  we  look  into  the  poor  faces  of  thooe 
newly  blind  youths  with  the  "light  that 
failed,"  and  realize  how  much  is  always 
in  a  few  words  of  our  good  Lord:  "The 
light  of  the  body  is  the  eye."  Then  we  sit 
helpless  and  can  only  hope  that  the  eye 
that  is  left  them  may  be  single  and  so 
the  body  be  full  of  light,  though  the  dark- 
ness  be   without. 

We  gave  an  organ  recital  for  the  blind 
jsoldiers  of  our  hospital,  last  week,  in  the 
American  Church.  After  the  recital  we 
took  them  into  the  library,  and  had  for 
them  coffee,  cake  and  ice  cream.  One 
little  sub-officer  with  the  iron  cross  inter- 
ested me  very  much.  He  was  small  but 
well  set  up,  with  regular  features,  smooth 
face,  ruddy  and  healthy,  with  a  good- 
natured  manner.  Both  his  eyes  were  g< 
and  he  had  an  Ugly,  larse  star-sh 
8ca.r  on  his  forehead.  In  spite  of  th: 
would  be  called  fine  looking.  He  was  onlv 
twenty-two,  and  his  language  and  manner 
showed  he  was  well  brought  up.  Be  was 
wounded  in  the  Argonne  forest.  It  is  a 
murderous   place.      In   large   sections    t: 


are  no  more  trees.  All  above  the  height 
of  a  man  is  shot  to  pieces  by  artillery. 
So  many  of  our  wounded  in  the  hospital 
were  blown  up  in  the  Argonne,  by  mines, 
that  I  asked  him  if  that  was  his  case.  He 
told  me  how  he  lost  his  eyes.  Plis  com- 
pany had  been  ordered  to  storm  a  trench 
He  was  a  little  too  eager,  he  said.  His 
Place  was  to  go  a  little  ahead  of  the  in- 
fantry with  hand  grenades.  It  was  all  his 
own  fault,  he  said.  He  got  a  little  too  far 
ahead,  and  was  almost  the  first  to  reach 
the  trench,  into  which  he  jumped  with  a 
grenade  in  each  hand.  When  he  landed 
each  of  his  two  arms  was  seized  before  he 
could  throw,  and  a  French  soldier  threw  a 
grenade  square  in  his  face.  He  fell  and  was 
supposed  dead  and  so  overlooked.  The 
struggle  seemed  to  be  pushed  away  from 
where  no  was,  and,  never  having  lost  con- 
sciousness, in  spite  of  his  injury,  he 
crawled  up  somehow  out  of  the  trench, 
and  made  his  way,  on  his  hands  and 
knees,  by  some  sort  of  instinct,  back  to 
his  own  lines.  There  he  was  picked  up 
and  cared  for  The  hand-grenade  had 
blown  out  both  his  eyes  and  laid  open 
the  flesh  on  his  forehead.  With  all  this 
he  has  the  reputation  of  being  a  good- 
natured  and  cheerful  patient. 

It  is  hard  to  realize  the  blindness  of  the 
blind.  Little  things  make  one  realize  it 
for  a  few  minutes  at  a  time.  The  little 
soldier,  happy  for  the  time  amid  the  gen- 
eral air  of  festivity,  had  his  dish  of  ice 
cream  placed  before  him  with  the  rest.  He 
carefully  took  up  a  first  spoonful  of  cream, 
or  thought  he  did,  but  he  had  the  spoon, 
upside  down  and  did  not  know  it.  He 
smiled  as  he  turned  the  spoon  around. 
When  the  cake  was  set  in  the  centre  of  the 
table  he  could  not  find  it,  till  his  lame 
companion  sitting  next  to  him,  and  who 
could  see,  took  his  hand  and  placed  it  for 
him  over  a  piece  of  cake  so  that  he  could 
take  it.  These,  and  other  incidents  like 
them,  are  trifles,  of  course,  but  pathetic 
little  indications  of  a  calamitous  fact. 

All  of  our  guests  had  experiences  to  tell 
of  themselves  and  companions.  They  tell 
them  if  encouraged.  Some  of  them  are 
thrilling,  more  of  them  pathetic,  all  show 
courage  and  a  soldierly  spirit  of  sacrifice, 
and  some  make  one's  flesh  creep  and  arouse 
wonder  at  what  human  beings  can  go 
through  and  still  remain  sane.  These  men 
who  speak  are  the  heavily  wounded,  not  the 
mere  military  boasters.  Two  of  these  blind 
soldiers  in  our  hospital  are  university 
graduates  and  one  was  a  teacher  in  the 
Polytechnic.  They  are  much  more  de- 
pressed and  more  difficult  patients  than  the 
simpler  men.     "Oh,  this  great  black  board 


always  before  me!"  said  one  of  them.     "It 
is  terrible!  terrible!" 

As  much  as  possible  is  being  done  for 
these  unfortunate  men,  and  in  many  cases 
with  much  success.  The  majority  are 
cheerful  and  learning  some  occupation  or 
trade. 

Only  some  appreciation  of  the  terrible- 
ness  of  this  war  can  be  gained  by  coming 
into  contact  with  some  of  its  results  in  the 
hospitals.  We  do  not  see  the  wounded  on 
the  battlefield,  the  dead  and  the  dying.  We 
do  not  see  the  unrelieved  suffering.  We  see 
only  these  crippled  and  blind  who  are  be- 
ing cared  for.  We,  as  well  as  people  at  a 
distance,  are  apt  to  follow  accounts  of  bat- 
tles in  the  newspapers,  and  find  ourselves 
interested  something  as  we  might  be  in  a 
great  game.  When  we  come  into  contact 
with  the  results  in  the  hospitals,  though, 
our  flesh  creeps  and  a  pall  falls  over  us, 
yet  this  is  only  the  alleviated  suffering  we 
see.  A  French  official,  in  a  position  to 
know,  told  me  that  the  horror  on  the  trains  ( 
for  removing  the  wounded  was  so  great — 
the  suffering,  the  screams,  the  contortiotis 
of  the  mangled  and  the  dying— that  they 
were  absolutely  compelled  to  change  the 
train  guards  every  few  days,  as  nerves 
could  not  continue  to  stand  the  scenes,  and 
they  went  insane  if  not  removed. 

A  German  officer  home  on  a  week's  fur- 
lough, telling  me  something  of  the  trench 
warfare  at  Arras  (justly  called  "the  hell  of 
Arras"),  said  that  for  a  very  long  time 
back  no  wounded  could  be  picked  up  be- 
tween the  hostile  trenches,  no  matter  what 
their  condition,  no  matter  what  their  suf- 
fering. They  had  to  be  left  to  die,  some 
in  hours,  some  in  days.  All  truces  are  re- 
fused. Any  one,  or  any  group— doctors, 
Red  Cross  or  soldiers  who  attempt  to  go 
out  to  pick  up  the  wounded  or  remove  the 
dead,  are  killed.  No  quarter!  The  result 
is  that  the  wounded  writhe  and  scream 
until  they  die  lying  on  the  fields  between 
the  trenches  amid  the  heaped-up  carcases 
of  whites,  negroes,  Hindoos  and  animals, 
bloated  to  many  times  their  normal  size, 
and  amid  a  stench  which  is  an  indescrib- 
able horror.  Under  such  conditions  this 
murderous  work  goes  on.  Here  we  have 
the  real  terribleness  of  the  war;  not  in  the 
hospitals,  where  we  see  mercy  and  allevia- 
tion at  work.  The  simple  stories  which  I 
have  heard  from  the  men  in  the  battles, 
officers  and  soldiers  maimed  and  blinded, 
beggar  repetition.  This  is  the  real  war  as 
it  is. 


WORKING  FOR 
WAR'S  VICTIMS 

£  z 

STew  York  Woman  "Seeking 
to  Ameliorate  the  Condi- 
tion of  the  Blind. 


Miss  Winifred  I^olt,  secretary  of  the 
New  Y^tk  Association  For  the  Blind, 
writes  from  Paris,  where  she  has*1?oVie 
to  establish  with  the  help  of  French 
military  authorities  permanent  sur- 
roundings and  occupations  for  soldiers 
blinded   by   war: 

"The  purposes  of  the  committee  are 
to  find  the  blind  sufferers,  some  of 
whom  are  marooned  in  improvised  hos- 
pitals, farmhouses  or  chateaux,  and 
many  of  whom  are  segregated  in  the 
large  hospitals  or  Red  Cross  stations. 

"The  committee  will  send  visitors 
and  teachers  to  these  blind  soldiers, 
furnish  them  with  entertainment 
through  reading,  games,  etc.,  and  for 
those  physically  able  it  will  start  the 
task  of  putting  eyes  on  their  finger  tips 
and  giving  them   'light   through   work.' 

"We  have  found  all  the  blind  men  in 
the  hospitals  of  Paris  and  some  in 
their  homes.  I  estimate  that  there  must 
be  from  3000  to  4000  blind  soldiers  in 
this   immediate  neighborhood. 

"We  have  begun  teaching  in  the  hos- 
pitals here  and  have  among  our  pupils 
two  very  interesting  and  grateful  blind 
officers  who(  will  make  good  teachers 
and  attractive  agents  for  the  Paris 
"ag&thouse  when  it  is  opened. 

"The  committee  will  seek  to  consider 
the  men's  individual  interests  and  abili- 
ities  and  as  far  as  possible  to  train 
them  in  trades  and  occupations  for 
which  their  blindness  has  temporarily 
unfitted  them  or  to  find  new  openings 
in  which  they  may  become  wage  earn- 
ers. 


I 


vcv      ' 


@  by  Underwood  &  Underwood. 
MISS  WINIFRED  HOLT. 


"When  they  have  become  proficient  it 
is    hoped  'wherever  ; possible     to     re- 
turn  them  to  their  home  surroundings 
with  the  knowledge  and  tools  to  make 
them  self  helpful.     When     this     is  not 
practical  it  is  hoped  to  establish  them 
in  congenial   surroundings,   where  they 
may  again  have  a  feeling  of  indepen- 
dence and   well  being.  Without  prompt 
expert  assistance  soon  after  loss  of  sight 
the  blind  man  is  apt  to  become  despon- 
ent,  to  lose  his  intelligence  or  to  drift 
into  an  apathy  from  which  it  is  diffi- 
cut,  if  not  impossible,  to  arouse  him  la- 
ter. 

"The  work  is  very  heartrending,  but 
unspeakably  essential.     We     found     a 
blind  soldier  the  other  day  who  had  not 
left  his  room  in  the  hospital   since  the 
accident  and  was  afraid  to  walk.  After 
we    told    him    of    Fawcett's    wonderful 
life  the  man  jumped  up,  looking  a  new- 
human    being,    and,    to    the    amazement 
of  his  nurse  and  everybody  else,  strode 
forth,    with    his    head    lifted    high,    into 
the  corridor  and  walked   up   and   down 
with    his    hands    behind    his    back    like 
any    other   proud    man.    That    is    what 
hope  does  for  these  people,    who  were 
desperate  until  we  brought  them  light. 
"I  wrote  you  last  week  of  the  young 
officer  who  was  blind,  had  lost  his  arm 
and  had  only  two  lingers  remaining  on 
his    right    hand.    He    is    doing    wonder- 
fully and  is  full  of  hope  and  light.  His 
fiancee  comes  from  Corsica  to  see  him 
at  the  end  of  the  week.  I  am  to  see  her 
before    she    has    the    shock    of    receiv- 
ing" what  remains  of  her  soldier,  so  as 
to  prepare  her  to  appreciate  what  life 
may  still  hold  for  them  both." 

Miss  Holt  wrote  that  there  should  be 
a  corps  of  at  least  50  teachers  to  cope 
with  the  work  and  that  funds  were 
badly  needed  for  materials  for  work 
and  clothes.  She  hopes  for  American 
friends  will  send  her  a  million  dollars. 
"I  can  use  all  of  it  and  to  good  pur- 
pose," she  writes. 


"Y\*s-uJ  i^o^K/,  TV.  M, ,  j  uw\ 


e,s- 


S<2^ 


.v 


. is 


j       How  Germany 

Looks  to 
George  B.  McClellan 

By  George  B.  McClellan. 

Professor  of  Economic  History  in   Princeton 
University. 

I  HAVE  written  of  what  I  saw  and 
heard  in  Germany,  as  I  saw  and 
heard  it,  giving  my  impression? 
with  as  little  comment  as  possible. 
During  the  last  six  months  «i 
have  visited  Italy,  France,  Swit- 
zerland, Germany,  Belgium,  and  Holland, 
four  belligerent  and/two  neutral  coun- 
tries. Of  them  all  Germany  is  by  far  the 
most  normal,  conditions  within  the  Ger- 
man Empire  being  much  nearer  the  usual 
than  anywhere  I  have  been  in  Europe 
since  the  war  began. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  hospitals 
there  are  various  institutions  supported 
by  private  charity  for  the  purpose  of 
helping  particular  cases.  There  are 
schools  to  teach  trades  to  the  perma- 
nently maimed,  and  in  almost  all  of  the 
large  cities  homes  for  the  care  of  the 
totally  blind.  Of  the  latter,  fortunately 
and  curiously,  there  are  less  than  1,000 
in  France  and  less  than  900  in  Germany. 
In  Germany  they  receive  a  pension  of 
1^600  marks,  or  $400,  a  year,  which  is 
more  than  the  average  peasant  in  sound 
health  can  possibly  earn.  The  home  for 
blind  soldiers,  or  Kriegsblindenheim, 
in  Berlin,  at  No.  12  Bellevue  Strasse, 
/  of    which     her     Excellency     Frau     von 


Ihne  is  the  head,  gives  them  not  only  a 
home  where  they  are  cared  for  and  re- 
ceive medical  attendance,  but  also  a  school 
where  there  is  instruction  in  massage, 
typewriting,  music,  and  rope,  basket,  and 
slipper  making. 

Germany  is  quite  able  to  care  for  her 
own  wounded  and  requires  neither  sur- 
geons nor  nurses.  Certain  supplies  are, 
however,  much  desired,  chiefly  bandages, 
which  should  be  ten  yards  long  and  four 
inches  wide,  and  absorbent  cotton.  A 
more  or  less  useful  substitute  for  cotton 
has  been  invented  in  special  wood  pulp 
paper,  but  cotton  is,  nevertheless,  greatly 
needed.  Supplies  can  be  sent  to  Ger- 
many through  the  American  Red  Gross. 
Money  can  be  used  to  great  advantage, 
and  the  various  blind  homes,  like  that  at 
Berlin,  are  supported  entirely  by  private 
effort. 


TLe.vJ    MottK/.     UW.,    YlaXU- 

K     J'     M-  -. 

Sfc,.  tevv^ii                in    1115". 

New  York  Woman  in  Paris 


... 


Tells  of  Helping  War's  Derelicts 
5> 

In  Letter  to  Head  of  Blind  Aid  Society  Here,  Winifred  Holt  De- 
scribes Pitiful  SdeTleT^here  Human  Wrecks  Are  Sheltered 
and  Efforts  Are  Made  to  Teach  Them  the  Alphabet  for  the 
Blind. 

Mrs.    Peter    Cooper-Hewitt,    of 
Lighthouse,  a  well  known  charitable 
organization,    has    received    a    letter 
from  Winifred  Holt,  now  in  Paris,  in 
connection  with  the  society's  work. 

The  letter,  which  describes  scenes 
incident  to  the  war.  is  in  part  as  fol- 
lows: 


I  arrived  here  Monday  morning. 
The  minister  of  war  had  been  most 
kind  in  preparing  our  journey  for 
us  and  giving  us  railroad  passes 
and  other  necessary  documents  to 
make  our  trip  easy. 

Our  first  stop  was  at  Lyons. 
After  three  days'  hard  work  we 
had  located  the  blind  of  Lyons  and 
the  neighborhood,  and  had  asked 
four  blind  men  to  come  to  Paris. 
One  of  these  was  a  man  named 
Nicolai,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  heroes  whom  it  had  been 
my  privilege  to  meet.  His  story, 
according  to  the  lieutenant  com- 
manding his  company,  is  that,  dur- 
ing an  attack  on  a  German  trench, 
he  leaped  so  far  ahead  of  his  com- 
rades that  he  reached  the  trench 
alone.  His  comrades  not  coming  up 
in  sufficient  numbers  to  support 
him,  he  was  left  to  fight  alone 
against  the  Germans,  of  whom  he 
killed  or  disabled  several. 

Finally,  however,  a  hand  grenade 
exploded  and  tore  out  one  eye.  and 
he  was  obliged  to  yield  to  force  of 
Shortly  afterward  the 
French  arrived  in  greater  force  and 
s^gain  reached  the  trench.  Two 
comrades  found  Nicolai  and  band- 
aged him,  afterward  propping  him 
up   in   a   corner  of   the   trench. 

The  fight  became  fiercer  and 
fiercer,  and  finally  Nicolai  could 
not  continue  to  look  on  any  longer. 
He  sprang  up,  seized  a  German's 
rifle,  and  threw  himself  into  the 
melee.  For  some  time  he  valiant- 
ly supported  his  comrades,  in  spite 
of  his  terrible  wound,  when  another 
grenade  arrived  and  tore  out  his 
remaining  eye.  Nicolai  lost  con- 
sciousness, the  French  were  obliged 
to  evacuate  the  trench,  and  he  was 
left  as  a  prisoner  of  the  Germans. 

History  does  not  record  how  he 
again  came  into  French  hands. 
Another  of  our  recruits  is  now  in  a 
hospital  in  Marseilles.  He  has  no 
eyes,  no  feet,  and  only  one  arm. 
As  soon  as  he  has  false  legs,  a  false 
arm  and  glass  eyes  are  provided, 
and  is  well  enough  to  travel,  we 
hope  to  have  him  in  our  hospital. 


Shot  Child's  Playmate. 

The  maire  brought  to  us  a  little 
refugee  of  fourteen,  all  eyes  and 
heroism,  a  wee  Jeanne  d'Arc.  She 
had  been  playing  in  a  field  with 
a  little  comrade,  of'.her  own  age, 
when  a  "Boche"  approached  and 
ordered  the  girls  to  draw  water. 
They  refused  to  do  so,  the  Germans 
leveled  their  guns  at  them  and  killed 
the  little  girl's  playmate. 


The  other  escaped,  running  and 
hiding-  in  ditches  and  underbrush, 
d  for  sixteen  days  made  her 
painful  progress  from  the  Vosges 
to  the  town  hall  in  Lyons,  where 
she  appeared,  ragged  and  blood- 
stained, before  the  mayor.  In  his 
paternal,  big-hearted  fashion,  lie 
immediately  adopted  the  child,  and 
Ress  is  s-?w  a  very  happy,  but  still 
much  frightened,  little  girl. 

On  our  return  trip  we  were  stopped 
at  the  many  barriers  placed  by  the 
soldiers  across  the  road.  They 
swung  their  lanterns,  shouldered 
their  guns  and  looked  fierce,  but  we 
were  not.  molested. 

We  visited  one  of  the  military 
hospitals  at  Toulon  and  called  on 
the  captain's  blind  protegee.  There 
was  *  very  little  left  of  him,  except- 
ing his  courage.  His  legs  had  been 
amputated  and  his  right  arm,  too. 
His  huge  eyes  were  blind  and  he 
was  carried  like  a  chtffti  He  smiled 
often  at  the  little  woman  who  re- 
mained faithful  to  him  and  still  pro- 
posed to  marry  him,  but  the  light  of 
intelligence  and  the  knowledge  of  a 
horizon  had  not  come  to  him  until  I 
slipped  the  unfailing  domino  be- 
neath his  finger;  and  for  the  first 
time  be  realized  he  could  find  light 
through   work. 

Hopes  to  Be  a  Wage  Earner. 

It  was  a  wonderful  thing  to  see 
the  revivifying  of  this  man  through 
the  simple  toy.  We  then  tacked  an 
alphabet  onto  a  board  so  he  could 
read  with  his  left  hand.  The  mira- 
cle continued,  and  before  we  left 
him  he  was  eager  to  come  to  Paris. 

He  actually  laughed  aloud  with 
the  idea  of  his  being  able  to  be  a 
wage  earner  and  to  marry  the  little 
girl  who  was  his  fiancee  and  go 
back  to  work  in  their  little  home 
town.  I  stipulated  that  he  should 
have  stumps  and  a  hook  and  glass 
eyes.  It  took  more  than  my  cour- 
age and  my  technique  to  look  at 
him  in  his  fearful  plight. 

At  Toulon  we  came  to  the  lowest 
circle  of  Hell,  where  the  poor  blind 
spirits  wait  uncomplainingly  with- 
out hope,  without  courage.  We 
climbed  a  hill  to  the  Hospital  de 
Ste.  Anne.  The  sun  beat  merci- 
lessly on  the  clay  ground,  which 
was  only  relieved  by  a  few  stunted 
palms.  Four  blind  remnants  were 
brought  out  to  us  in  the  radiating 
heat. 

I  snare  you  the  description  in  de- 
tail of  what  we  were  forced  to  look 


at.  Enough  that  some  had  no  faces, 
and  no  one  had  hands.  Still,  from 
the  group,  five  in  all,  which  we 
found  there,  there  was  one  brave 
man  who  had  been  a  chemist,  whom 
we  asked  to  come  to  Paris.  "  He 
cannot  sleep  yet  and  thex-e  is  not 
very  much  left  but  his  desire  to 
work  his  way  out  from  darkness  to 
light.. 

In  our  trip  to  the  south  we 
found  seventy  blind  men,  and 
asked  eight  of  this  number  to  come 
to  Paris.  All  this  indicates  the 
great  necessity  of  our  task,  and  the 
way  in  which  we  were  receive2""by 
the  authorities,  great  and  small, 
shows  that  we  are  doing  vital  war 
work. 

Since  my,  return  here,  we  have  had 
several  new  blind  people.  One  is 
a  doctor  who  was  blinded  and  was 
trying  to  kill  himself  by  starvation, 
another  a  blind  actor. 

Since  my  return  I  have  been  so 
buss'  that  I  have  not  even  had 
time  to  look  up  at  the  aeroplanes 
when  I  hear  them  clattering  above 
my  head.  Three  hostile  aircraft 
tried  to  get  to  Paris  the  other  day, 
but  were  turned  back,  one  being  de- 
stroyed. 


YWu)  MorKr-,YU  W.,  "JrxlQ-^Yi^ 


WAR  BHSft^B® 
NEW  SIGHT  IN  TOY 


MiSs"  Hoft  Says  Ability  to 

Count  Domino's  Spots 

Is  Dawn  of  Hope. 


SEES  EYELESS  HERO 
OF  GRENADE  BATTLE 


Lighthouse     Head     Writes     He 

Fought  Alone   Until   Blast 

Left  Him  Helpless. 

Remarkable  stories  of  courage  in  men 
suffering  the  most  fearful  fate  that  can 
come  to  human  beings  are  told  in  a  let- 
ter from  Miss  Winifred  Holt,  of  the 
Lighthouse,  at  ill  East  Fifty-ninth 
Street,  president  of  the  Franco-Ameri- 
can Committee  to  Aid  Blinded  Soldiers. 

Miss  Holt  is  in  France  establishing 
branch  lighthouses  and  gathering 
blinded  men  from  the  war  hospitals. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  tales  of 
heroism  is  that  of  a  man  named  Nic< 
olai,  a  zouave,  whom  Miss  Holt  found 
in  a  hospital  at  Lyons.  This  man,  ac- 
cording to  the  lieutenant  of  his  com- 
pany, was  in  an  attack  on  a  German 
trench.  He  dashed  so  far  ahead  of  his 
comrades  that  he  reached  the  trench 
alone.  His  company  did  not  come  up 
to  support  him,  and  he  was  left  fighting 
alone  in  the  midst  of  a  trench  full  of 
Germans. 

He  stood  his  ground  until  his  am- 
munition was  gone,  escaping  death  by 
a  miracle.     Though  wounded,  he  fought 


on  with  his  bayonet.  Several  of  his 
amazed  opponents  had  been  killed  and 
several  were  wounded.  Then  a  hand 
grenade  exploded  and  tore  out  one  eye. 
The  Germans  leaped  on  him  and  over- 
powered him.  A  little  later  the  French 
came  up  rnd  captured  the  trench.  Two 
Comrades  found  Nicolai,  bandaged  his 
face  and  propped  him  up  in  a  corner  of 
the  trench. 

The  fight  became  fiercer  and  fiercer, 
and  finally  Nicolai  could  not  continue 
to  look  on  any  longer.  He  sprang  up, 
seized  a  German's  rifle  and  threw  him- 
self into  the  melee.  For  some  time  he 
valiantly  supported  his  comrades  in 
spite  of  his  terrible  wound,  when  an- 
other grenade  tore  out  his  other  eye. 
Nicolai  lost  consciousness.  The  French 
were  obliged  to  evacuate  the  trench 
and  he  was  left  a  prisoner  of  the  Ger- 
mans. History  does  not  record  how  he 
came  into  French  hands. 

The  Mayor  of  Lyons,  whose  guest 
Miss  Holt  was,  had  taken  into  his  fam- 
ily a  fourteen-year-old  girl  refugee. 
She  had  been  playing  in  a  field  with 
another  girl  of  about  her  own  age  when 
some  Germans  rode  up  and  ordered  the 
children  to  draw  water.  The  girls  re- 
fused, whereupon  the  Germans  raised 
their  guns  and  fired,  killing  the  child's 
playmate.  She,  running  and  hiding  in 
ditches  and  underbrush,  wandered  for 
sixteen  days,  travelling  aH  the  way 
from  the  VoBges  to  the  Town  Hal]  in 
Lyons,  where  she  appeared,  ragged  and 
bloodstained,  before  the  Mayor.  He 
immediately  adopted  her. 

Miss  Holt  says  one  of  her  proteges, 
in  addition  to  being  blind,  has  no  feet 
inid  oiib-  one  arm.  He  will  be  provided 
with  false  legs,  an  arm  and  a  glass  eye 
\x\d  taken  to  the  shelter  at  Paris.  At 
Marseilles  Miss  Holt  saw  a  man  who 
was  being  cared  for  by  a  captain  in  the 
French  army. 

"There  was  very  little  left  of  him," 
she  writes,"  excepting  his  courage.  His 
legs  had  been  amputated  and  his  right 
arm.  His  great  eves  were  blind,  and 
he  was  carried  like  a  child.  He  smiled 
often  at  the  little  woman  who  remained 
faithful  to  him  and  still  purposed  to 
marry  him,  but  the  light  of  intelligence 
and  the  knowledge  of  a  horizon  had  not 
come  to  him  until  1  sflpped  a  domino 
beneath  his  finger.  For  the  first  time 
he  realized  that  he  could  find  light 
through  work. 

"It  was  a  wonderful  thing  to  see  the 
revivifying  •  of  this  man  through  the 
simple  toy.  'Ah,  it  is  a  six,'  he  cried. 
'I  c^n  read  it.'  We  then  tacked  an 
alphabet  to  a  board  so  he  could  read 
with  his  left  hand.  The  miracle  con- 
tinued, and  before  we  left  him  he  was 
eager  to  come  to  Paris  and  learn  how  to 
be  blind. 


"He  actually  laughed  aloud  with  the 
idea  of  his  being  able  to  be  a  wage 
earner  and  to  marry  the  little  girl 
who  was  his  fiancee  and  go  back  to 
work  in  their  home  town.  I  stipulated 
that  he  should  have  stumps  and  a 
hook  and  glass  eyes.  It  took  more  than 
my  courage  to  look  at  him  in  his  fear- 
ful plight. 

"At  Toulon  we  came  to  the  lowest 
circle  of  hell,  where  the  poor,  damned, 
blind  spirits  wait  uncomplaining,  with- 
out hope,  without  courage.  We  climbed 
a  hill  to  the  hospital  of  St.  Anna.  The 
sun  beat  mercilessly  on  the  clay 
ground,  relieved  only  by  a  few  stunted 
palms. 

"Four  blind  peasants  were  brought 
out  to  us.  I  spare  you  the  description 
in  detail  of  what  we  were  forced  to 
look  at.  Enough  that  some  had  no 
faces,  and  one.  had  no  hands.  Still, 
from  the  group,  five  in  all,  there  was 
one  brave  man,  who  had  been  a  chemist, 
whom  we  asked  to  come  to  Paris.  He 
cannot  sleep  yet,  and  there  is  not  much 
left  but  his  desire  to  work  his  way 
out  from  darkness  to  light." 

During  her  trip  Miss  Holt  says  she 
found  seventy  blind  men  and  arranged 
to  have  eight  of  them  go  to  Paris.  On 
her  return  to  the  city  several  more 
were  taken  into  the  refuge,  one  of  them 
a  doctor,  who  was  trying  to  kill  him- 
self by  starvation.  There  are  to  be 
two  shelters  at  Paris  and  one  each  for 
Lyons,   Marseilles    and    Bordeaux.  ^ 


71 


e,-v^r 


■Ifo-rH,   YU  lf.»   Post 


Se,|i/t 


evw  to-c^-r" 


2^*  1^15. 


BLINDED  SOLDIERS 

IN  PITIFUL  PLIGHT 


MISS  HOLT  WRITES  OF  GREAT  SUF- 
FERING AND  BRAVERY. 


Zouave  Who  Charged  German  Trench, 
Lost  First  One  Then  the  Other  Eye 
In  Hand  Grenade  Explosions — 
Another  Minus  Both  Legs  and  an 
Ann  Besides  His  Sight  —  Blinded 
Doctor  Tries  Suicide  by  Starving 
— Horrors  Defy  Description. 


Mrs.  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt  has  received 
a  letter  from  Miss  Winifred  Holt,  secre- 
tary of  the  New  York  Association  for 
the  Blind,  telling  .of  her  experiences  in 
France  as  president  of  the  Franco-Amer- 
ican Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in  Bat- 
tle. Miss  Holt  writes  of  a  recent  trip  to 
Lyons,  Marseilles,  and  other  parts  of 
France,  and  describes  the  pitiful  condi- 
tion of  the  soldiers  whose  sight  has  been 
lost. 

"After  three  days  of  very  hard  work," 
says  Miss  Holt,  "we  had  located  the  blind 
of  Lyons  and  the  neighborhood,  and  had 
asked  four  blind  men  to  come  to  Paris. 
One  of  these,  an  exceptional  personality, 
Monsieur  Bloch,  is  now  here,  acting  as 
field  officer  and  teacher.  He  impressed  me 
so  greatly  with  his  spirit  of  progressive 
service  that  I  offered  him  and  his  sister, 
who  is  a  capable  typhlophile,  what  they 
might  require  to  come  to  Paris  and  help 
me.  Mr.  Bloch  has  been  educated, 
through  a  life  of  blindness,  in  seeing 
schools  and  colleges.  He  feels  the  cruelty 
of  walling  up  the  blind  and  segregating 
them. 


"To  my  offer  of  any  salary  which  he 
wished,  he  replied  with  a  radiant  face: 
'But  you  see,  I  am  blind,  I  cannot  serve 
my  country  in  the  trenches,  but  I  will 
embrace  this  opportunity  of  service  with 
great  joy,  but  with  no  recompense  other 
than  the  privilege  of  doing  the  work.' 
His  sister  replied  in  the  same  fashion. 

"The  other  men  whom  I  asked  to  come 
were  an  ex-mason  of  much  intelligence 
and  great  musical  ability,  a  Chasseur 
d'Afrique,  who  had  formerly  been  a  typ- 
ist, and  a  Zouave,  who  had  formerly  been 
an  accountant.  This  man,  Nicolai,  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  heroes 
whom  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  meet. 
His  story,  according  to  the  lieutenant 
commanding  his  company,  in  the  absence 
[on  account  of  wounds]  of  the  captain, 
is  that,  during  an  attack  on  a  German 
trench,  he  leaped  so  far  ahead  of  his  com- 
rades that  he  reached  the  trench  alpne, 
and,  his  comrades  not  coming  up  in  suf- 
ficient numbers  to  support  him,  was  left 
to  fight  alone  against  the  Germans,  of 
whe  he  killed  or  put  hors  de  combat 
several. 

BLINDED    BY    A    GRENADE. 

"Finally,  however,  a  hand  grenade  ex- 
ploded and  tore  out  one  eye,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  yield  to  force  of  numbers. 
Shortly  afterwards,  the  French  arrived  in 
greater  force,  and  again  reached  the 
trench.  Two  comrades  found  Nicolai  and 
bandaged  him,  afterwards  propping  him 
up  in  a  corner  of  the  trench.  The  fight 
became  fiercer  and  fiercer,'  and  finally 
Nic.olai  could  not  continue  to  look  on  any 
longer.  He  sprang  up,  seized  a  German's 
rifle,  and  threw  himself  into  the  mel£e. 
For  some  time  he  valiantly  supported  his 
comrades,  in  spite  of  his  terrible  wound, 
when  another  grenadfc  arrived  and  tore 
out  his  remaining  eye.  Nicolai  lost  con- 
sciousness, the  French  were  obliged  to 
evacuate  the  trench,  and  he  was  left  as  a 
prisoner  of  the  Germans.  History  does 
not  record  how  he  again  came  into 
French  hands. 

"Another  of  our  recruits  is  now  in  a 
hospital  in  Marseilles.  He  has  no  eyes, 
no  feet,  and  only  one  arm.  As  soon  as 
he  has  false  legs,  a  false  arm,  and  glass 
eyes    provided,    and    is    well    enough    to 


7  ** 


ivei,  we  nope  to  have  him  in  our  Hotel." 
Of  another  victim,  she  writes: 
"There  was  very  little  left  of  him,  ex- 
cepting his  courage.  His  legs  had  been 
amputated  and  his  right  arm.  His  huge 
eyes  were  blind,  and  he  was  carried  like 
a  child.  He  smiled  often  at  the  little  wo- 
man who  remained  faithful  to  him  and 
still  proposed  to  marry  him,  but  the  light 
of  intelligence  and  the  knowledge  of  a 
horizon  had  not  come  tj>  him  until  I 
slipped  the  unfailing  dominp  beneath  his 
finger;  and  for  the  first  time  he  realized 
that  he  could  find  light  through  work.  It 
was  a  wonderful  thing  to  see  the  revivify- 
ing of  this  man  through  the  simple  toy. 

""Mais,  c'est  le  six,'  he  said,  'je  peux 
lire.' 

"We  then  tacked  an  alphabet  on  to  a 
board,  so  that  he  could  read  with  his  left 
hand.  The  miracle  continued,  and  before 
we  left  him  he  was  eager  to  come  to  Paris 
and  learn  how  to  be  blind.  He  actually 
laughed  aloud  with  the  idea  of  his  being 
able  to  be  a  wage -earner  and  to  marry 
the  little  girl  who  was  his  fianc6e  and 
go  back  to  work  in  their  home  town.  I 
stipulated  that  he  should  have  stumps 
and  a  hook  and  glass  eyes.  It  took  more 
than  my  courage  and  my  technique  to 
look  at  him  in  his  fearful  plight. 

UNABLE   TO   SLEEP. 

"At  Toulon  we  came  to  the  lowest  cir- 
cle of  Hell,  where  the  poor  damned  blind 
spirits  wait  uncomplaining  without  hope, 
without  courage.  We  climbed  a  hill  to 
the  Hospital  de  Ste.  Anne.  The  sun  beat 
mercilessly  on  the  clay  ground,  which 
was  only  relieved  by  a  few  stunted 
palms.  Pour  blind  remnants  were  brought 
out  to  us  in  the  radiating  heat.  I  spare 
you  the  description  in  detail  of  what 
we  were  forced  to  look  at.  Enough  that 
aome  had  no  faces,  and  one  had  no  hands. 
Still,  from  the  group,  five  in  all,  which 
we  found  there,  there  was  one  brave  man 
who  had  been  a  chemist,  whom  we  asked 
to  come  to  Paris.  He  cannot  sleep  yet, 
and  there  is  not  very  much  left  but  his 
desire  to  work  his  way  out  from  dark- 
ness to  light. 

"In  our  trip  to  the  south  we  found 
seventy  blind  men,  and  asked  eight  of 
this  number  to  come   to  Paris.     All   this 


indicates  the  grreat  necessity  of  our  task 
and  the  way  in  which  we  were  received 
by  the  authorities,  great  and  small,  shows 
that  we  are  doing  vital  war  work. 

"Since  my  return  here  we  have  had 
several  new  blind  people.  One  is  a  doc- 
tor, who  was  blinded,  and  was  trying-  to 
kill  himself  by  starvation,  another  a  blind 
factor." 


SostoYv,   "YWa,S>S.,    Cb-met-u 


ceuirv. 


0  ut  o  ip  e-r     3  >    i  °U  5 . 


^    i 


Soldiers 
ere  Blinded  by 
erman  Gases 


After  spending  three  years 
in  Bradford,  England,  William 
Burns  of  No.  103  Mount  Pleasant 
avenue,  Roxbury,  who  has  re- 
turned home,  tells  of  the  suffer- 
ing by  English  soldiers  from 
poisonous  gases  of  German  bombs. 

"I  saw  strong  soldiers  suffering 
terrible  agony  from  the  eifects  of 
being  'gassed,'  as  the  soldiers 
say,"  said  Burns.  "It  is  hard  to 
describe  the  pitiful  condition  of 
these  men.  Every  care  and  at- 
tention is  paid  to  them,  but  there 
appears  to  be  very  little  chance 
for  thei^r  recovery.  I  met  soldiers, 
young^nd  old,  blind  from  the  ef- 
fects pt  this  terrible  gas." 


OoCob^r   IB-    i^\5 

LOST  SIGHT  IN  WAR 
BUT  FWi^BRIDE  IN  PARIS 

Joseph  Amal!1  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
vvho  enlisted  in  the  French  Foreign 
Legion  and   lost  his  sight   in   the  early 

Vlaleleine  Rosseau.  The  ceremony  took 
place  in  the  mayor's  office  in  Paris  in 
Lhe  company  of  a  large  number  ^pf 
sightless  companions  of  the  American. 

Immediately  afterward  Georges  Ar- 
iel, a  hero  of  Les  Esparges  and  also 
sightless,  married  Mile.  Amelie  Mar- 
serie.  The  ceremonies  were  followed 
oy  a  luncheon  and  a  concert. 

Mr.  Amar  was  at  Lyons  in  connec- 
tion with  the  exposition  when  the  war 
broke  out  and  he  immediately  enlisted. 
Smce  he  has  been  at  the  soldiers'  home 
he  has  learned  to  make  trimmings  Xor 
lace  curtains. 


Boston,    YVlauSS..  "Post- 


October    H-    ><T15, 

'•I  CAN  SEE!"  CRIESJJLl&ftJiERO 

k      AS  OCEAN   SHOCK  RESTORES   SIGHT 

f*  The  happiest  survivor  of  the  sinking  of  the 
Allan  liner  Hesperian  is  Private  S.  W.  Cham- 
bers of  the  Tenth  Canadian  Battalion,  vvho  was 
on  his  way  home  to  Nova  Scotia  after  losing 
his  sight  in  the  gas-rilled  trenches  north  of 
Ypres. 

Surgeons  could  not  rind  that  his  eyes  had 
suffered  any  serious  damage,  but  Chambers  re- 
mained blind.  He  was  finally  ordered  home  with 
the  hopelessly  wounded,  but  was  told  on  leav- 
ing the  hospital  that  a  sudden  shock  might  re- 
store  his    sight. 

When  the  Hesperian  was  blown  up,  Cham- 
bers was  placed  in  one  of  the  lifeboats  whose 
falls  jammed,  and  he  was  thrown  into  the  sea. 
When  he  came  to  the  surface  his  fellows  heard 
him  shouting,  "I  can  see !" 


mim 


WEDNESDAY,  OCTOBER  21,  1914 


RED     CROSS     IN     BLIND     HOSPITAL 

American  Contingent  in  Budapest  Has 
Charge  of  Improvised  W  urd  in  the 
Wechselman  Institute 

Budapest,  Oct.  21 — The  American  Reel 
Cross  mission,  which  recently  arrived 
here  with  twenty  tons  cf  bandages  and 
dressings,  and  great  quantities  of  medi- 
cal and  surgical  supplies,  all  of  which 
were  urgently  needed  and  highly  appre- 
ciated by  the  Hungarian  Government, 
have  b^en  given  charge  of  an  improvised 
hospital  in  the  Wechselman  Institute  for 
the  Blind.  The  hospital  contains  ISO 
beds. 


Worcester,  "WUa,  «5  s  . ,  "Po  e>  *£ 

BUND  SOLDIERS  ' 
— CHuOSE^TRADES 

Many  at  Institution  in 
France 


PARIS,  Oct.  22. — To  accommodate 
the  increasing  number  of  blind  sol- 
diers, the  Quinze-Vingts  Institution 
'or  the  Sightless,  founded  by  Saint 
Louis,  has  been  enlarged  by  an  an- 
nex, a  former  convent,  which  is  called 
the  Convalescent  Home.  There  are 
at  present  145  inmates  of  the  annex. 
Tney  are  sent  here  from  all  parts  OS 
France,  even  before  they  are  allowed 
to  go  home.  Experience  has  proven 
that  at  the  home  the  surroundings 
and  influences  are  less  depressing  than 
elsewhere.      A   certain    mental   training 


is  necessary  and  this  can  best  be  af- 
fected at  this  institution.  When  this 
is  accomplished,  they  are  allowed  to 
chose  a  trade  to  their  liking-  or  any 
work  to  which  they  may  be  particu- 
larly adapted.  Basket-making-,  manu- 
facture of  brushes,  shoe -making, 
printing,  stenography  and  typewriting 
are  being  taught,  among  other  things. 
Each  of  these  victims  of  the  war  is  a 
willing  student  and  an  earnest  work- 
er. Notwithstanding  their  affliction 
they  are  a  most  cheerful  lot,  as  the 
bantering  which  may  be  heard  in  a 
visit  to  the  various  workrooms  indi- 
cates. 

Minister^  of  the  Interior  Malvy,  ac- 
companied* by  M.  Jules  Brisac,  of  the 
public  health  service,  and  M.  Paul 
Ermard  and  a  representative  of  The. 
Associated  Press  visited  the  home  re- 
cently. Entering,  and  passing  through 
"Joffre  Hall,"  which  is  used  for  re- 
ligious services  and  entertainments, 
the  visitors  were  treated  to  an  im- 
piomptu  concert.  A  singer  in  nurse's 
costume  was  on  the  stage  before  a 
piano.  Beside  her  were  three  blind 
soldiers — one  with  a  leg  amputated  and 
the  military  medal  and  war  cross 
pinned  to  his  breast — all  receiving  mu- 
sical instruction.  Ignorant  of  the 
presence  of  the  visitors,  the  singer 
and  her  soldiers  pupils  continued  their 
lesson. 

A  tour  of  the  grounds  and  park 
with  which  the  buildings  are  sur- 
rounded followed.  Seated  on  a  bench 
in  the  open  were  half  a  dozen  in- 
mates learning  the  making  of  corded 
fringe  for  curtains.  Among  these 
workers  was  the  naturalized  American 
Joseph  Amar  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
who  was  at  the  .  Eyons  Exposition 
when  war  was  declared  and  who  en- 
listed in  the  foreign  legion  soon  after. 
Bis  skill  and  dexterity  brought  forth 
a  complement  from  M.  Malvy.  Amar 
spends  much  of  his  spare  time  per- 
fecting his  French  while  taking  his 
promenade  with  one  of  the  nurses  as 
guide  and   teacher. 

Lesson    on    Cornet 

At  another  spot  in  the  park  a  blind 
music  teacher — not  a  war  victim — 
was  giving  a  lesson  in  cornet  playing 
to  a  sightless  young  soldier.  The  lac- 
ter,  wearer  of  the  military  medal,  had 
but  one  arm.  This  instrument  is  his 
sole  distraction.  Many  of  them  are 
fond  of  music,  and  several  with  vio- 
lins or  mandolins  in  their  arms  we~e 
seen  making  their  way  to  secluded 
spots  of  the  grounds  for  practice  and 
amusement. 

Arriving:  at  an  outbuilding  where 
baskets    were    being      made,      Minister 


Malvy  questioned  some  of  the  worker"? 
whose  laughter  was  interrupted  by  In- 
troductions. One  of  the  youngest  oi 
the  blind  men,  a  soldier  from  the 
Vosges,  was  here  and  he  was  the 
gayest.  His  affliction  he  bore  lightly 
and  smilingly  declared  it  to  be  fc 
•'souvenir  of  the  Germans,**  then  add 
ing>  "I  have  done  my  dutyi  I  am  con- 
tent." 

One  of  the  large  rooms  at  the  in- 
stitution is  used  for  the  teaching  oi 
massage*  Blind  masseurs  are  in  con- 
siderable demand,  and  here  with  blind 
comrades  for  subjects  they  are  belne 
rapidly  trained  to  make  their  own  liv- 
Irg.  Other  parts  of  the  institution  ar€ 
devoted  to  teaching  of  reading  and 
writing* 

"One  of  our  first  objects  is  to  teacr 
these  most  deserving  wards  of  the  na- 
tion the  pleasures  of  existence,**  sale 
M,.  Brisac,  who  exercises  sort  of  pa- 
rental care   over  them. 

The  home  is  so  agreeable  that  sonru 
do  not  want  to  leave  it,  even  to  b< 
with  their  families.  There  are  severa 
cases  of  men  who  left  it  and  askec 
to  come  back  where  they  felt  the  sur- 
roundings more  cheerful  and  agree 
able.  '.-,.,, 


FRANCE  TAKES 
CARE  OF  BLIND 


Annex  Made  to  Paris  Institution 
to  Provide  for  the  Sight- 
less Soldiers 


To  accommodate  the  increasing  num- 
ber of  blind  soldiers,  the  Quinze-Vingts 
Institution  for  the  Sightless  in  Paris, 
founded  by  Saint  Louis,  has  been  enlarged 
by  an  annex,  a  former  convent,  which  is 
sailed  the  Convalescent  home.  There 
are  at  present  145  inmates  of  the  annex. 
They   are  sent   there   from  all     parts     of 


Prance,  even  before  they  are  allowed  to 
go  home.  Experience  has  proven  that  at 
the  home  the  surroundings  and  influences 
are  less  depressing  than  elsewhere.  A 
certain  mental  training  is  necessary  ana 
this  can  best  be  effected  at  this  institu- 
tion. When  this  is  accomplished  they  are 
allowed  to  choose  a  trade  to  their  liking 
or  any  work  to  which  they  may  oe  par- 
ticularly adapted.  Basket  making,  manu- 
facture of  brushes,  shoe  making,  printing, 
stenography  and  typewriting  are  being 
taught,  among  other  things.  Each  of 
these  victims  of  the  war  is  a  willing  stu- 
dent and  an  earnest  worker.  Notwith- 
standing their  affliction  they  are  a  most 
cheerful  lot,  as  the  bantering  which  may 
be  heard  in  a  visit  to  the  various  work- 
rooms indicates. 

Minister  of  the  Interior  Malvy,  accom- 
panied by  M.  Jules  Brisac  of  the  public 
health  service  and  M.  Paul  Ermard  and 
a  representative  of  The  Associated  Press 
visited  the  home  recently.  Entering,  <*nu 
passing  through  "Joffre  Hall,"  which  is 
used  for  religious  services  and  entertain- 
ments, the  visitors  were  treated  to  an  im- 
promptu concert.  A  singer  in  nurse's 
costume  was  on  the  stage  before  a  piano. 
Beside  her  were  three  blind  soldiers — one 
with  a  leg  amputated  and  the  military 
medal  and  war  cross  pinned  to  his  brea»t 
— all  receiving  musical  instruction.  Ig- 
norant of  the  presence  of  the  visitors,  the 
singer  and  her  soldier  pupils i  continued 
their  lesson. 

A  tour  of  the  grounds  and  park  with 
which  the  buildings  are  surrounded  fol- 
lowed. Seated  on  a  bench  in  the  open 
were  half  a  dozen  inmates  learning  the 
making  of  corded  fringe  for  custalns. 
Among  these  workers  was  the  naturalized 
American-,  Joseph  Amar  of  Washington, 
D.  C.,  who  was  at  the  Lyons  exposition 
when  war  was  declared  and  who  enlisted 
in  the  foreign  legion  soon  after.  His  skill 
and  dexterity  brought  forth  a  compliment 
from  Monsieur  Malvy.  Amar  spends 
much  of  his  spare  time  perfecting  his 
French  while  taking  his  promenade  with 
one  of  the  nurses  as  guide  and  teacher. 

At  another  spot  in  the  park  a  b*lind 
music  teacher — not  a  war  victim — was 
giving  a  lesson  in  cornet  playing  to  a 
5ightless  young  soldier.  The  latter,  wear- 
Jr  of  the  military  medal,  had  but  one 
•rm.  This  instrument  is  his  sole  distrac- 
ion.  Many  of  them  are  fona  or.  music 
md  several  with  violins  or  manuollns  in 
their, arms  were  seen  making  tneir  way 
to  secluded  spots  of  the  grounds  for  prac-j 
tiee  and  amusement. 

Arriving  at   an   outbuilding  where   bas-j 
kets    were    being   made,    Minister      Malvy 
questioned    some    of    the      workers    whos< 
laughter    was    interrupted      by     introduc 
tions.     One  of  the  youngest  of  the   blin 
men,  a  soldier  from  the  Vosges,  was  her 
and  he  was  the  gayest.     His  affliction  h 


bore  lightly  and  smilingly  declared  it  t 
be  a  "souvenir  of  the  Germans,"  the 
adding,  "I  have  done  my  duty.  I  ar 
content." 

One  of  the  large  rooms  at  the  insti 
tution  is  used  for  the  teaching  of  mas 
sage.  Blind  masseurs  are  in  considera 
ble  demand  and  here  with  blind  comrade, 
for  subjects  they  are  being  rapidl? 
trained  to  make  their  own  living.  Othe. 
parts  of  the  institution  are  devoted  t( 
taeching   of    reading    and    writing. 

"One  of  our  first  objects  is  to  teacr 
these  most  deserving  wards  of  the  natior 
thep  leasures  of  existence,"  said  Mon- 
sieur Brisca,  who  exercises  a  sort  of  pa- 
rental  care   over  them. 

The  home  is  so  agreeable  that  some  do 
not  want  o  letve  it  even  to  be  with  their 
families.  There  are  several  cases  of  men 
who  left  it  and  asked  to  come  back  where 
they  felt  the  suroundings  more  cheerful 
and  agreeable. 


rnro  /vdlewce/  ■,    To.  X  .,  x3  <a^  u  I  g/t  ^vu 


0c/r,o  to 


i^  \S. 


BLIND  SOLDIERS 
INCREASING;  HOME 
AT  PARIS  ENLARGED 


Former  Convent  is  Made  Annex 
to  Quinze-Vingts  Institution  for 
Sightless.  — Many  Useful  Oc- 
cupations Taught  to  Inmates, 
Who  Are  Surprisingly  Cheerful. 


itCorrespom  the  Associated  Press.] 

Paris,   Oct.  10.— To  accoi;  the  in- 

creasing number  of  blind  BOldiort,  the 
Quinze-Vingts  Institution  for  the  Sight- 
less,   founded    by    Saint    Louis,    has    been 


enlarged  by  an  annex,  a  former  convent, 
which  is  called  the  Convalescent  Home. 
There  are  at  present  1 45  inmates  of  the 
annex.  They  are  sent  here  from  all  parv» 
of  France,  even  before  they  are  allowed 
to  go  home.  Experience  has  proven  that 
at  the  home  the  surroundings  and  lntlu-  . 
ences  are  less  depressing  than  elsewhere.  1 
A  certain  mental  training  is  necessary] 
and  this  can  best  be  effected  at  this  in- 
stitution. When  this  is  accomplished 
they  are  allowed  to  choose  a  trade  to 
their  liking  or  any  work  to  which  they 
may  be  particularly  adapted.  Basket 
making,  manufacture  of  brushes,  shoe- 
making,  printing,  stenography  and  type- 
writing arc  being  taught,  among  other 
things.  Each  of  these  victims  of  the 
war  is  a  willing  student  and  an  earnest 
worker.  Notwithstanding  their  affliction 
they  are  a  most  cheerful  lot,  as  the  ban- 
tering which  may  be  heard  in  a  visit 
to   the   various   workrooms   indicates. 

Minister  of  the  Interior  Malvy,  accom- 
panied by  M;  Jules  Brisac,  of  the  public 
health  service,  and  M.  Paul  Ermard  and 
a  representative  of  the  Associated  Press, 
visited  the  home  recently.  Entering,  and 
passing  through  "Joffre  Hall,"  which  Is 
used  for  religious  services  and  entertain- 
ments, the  visitors  were  treated  to  an  im- 
promptu concert.  A  singer  in  nurse's  cos- 
tume was  on  the  stage  before  a  piano. 
Beside  her  wer'e  three  blind  soldiers — one 
with  a  leg  amputated  and  the  military 
medal  and  war  cross  pinned  to  his  breast 
—all  receiving  musical  instruction.  Igno- 
rant of  the  presence  of  the  visitors,  the 
singer  and  her  soldier  pupils  continued 
their  lesson. 

A  tour  of  the  grounds  and  park  with 
which  the  buildings  arc  surrounded,  fol- 
lowed. .Seated  on  a  bench  in  the  open 
were  half  a  dozen  inmates  learning  the 
making  of-  corded  fringe  for  curtains. 
Among  these  workers  was  the  naturalized 
American.  Joseph  Amar,  of  Washington, 
D,  C,  who  was  at  the  Lyons  Exposition 
when  war  was  declared  and  who  enlisted 
in  the  Foreign  Legion  soon  after.  His 
skill  and  dexterity  brought  forth  a  com- 
pliment from  Monsieur  Malvy.  Amar 
Epends  much  of  his  spare  time  perfecting 
his  French  while  taking  his  promenade 
with  one  of  the  nurses  as  guide  and 
teacher. 

At  another  spot  in  the  park  a  blind 
music  teacher— not  a  war  victim— was 
giving  a  lesson  in  cornet  playing  to  a 
Sightless  young  soldier.  The  latter, 
wearer  of  the  military  medal,  had  but 
one  arm.  This  instrument  is  his  sole 
distraction.  Many  of  them  are  fond 
of  music,  and  several,  with  violins  or 
mandolins  in  their  arms,  were  seen  mak- 
ing their  way  to  secluded  spots  of  the 
grounds    for    practice   and    amusement. 


Arriving-  ?t  an  outbuilding.,  where 
baskets  were  being  made.  Minister  Malvy 
questioned  some  of  the  workers,  whose 
laughter  was  interrupted  by  introductions. 
One  of  the  youngest  of  the  blind  men,  a 
soldier  from  the  Yosges,  was  here,  and 
he  was  the  gayest.  His  affliction  he  bore 
lightly  and  smilingly  declared  it  to  be 
a  "souvenir  of  the  Germans-,"  then 
adding,  "I  have  done  my  duty.  I  am 
content." 

One  of  the  large  rooms  at  the  in- 
stitution is  used  for  the  teaching  of  mas- 
sage. Blind  masseurs  are  in  considerable 
demand,  and  here,  with  blind  comrades 
for  subjects,  they  are  being  rapidly 
trained  to  make  their  own  living.  Other 
partes  of  the  institution  are  devoted  to 
teaching  of  reading  and  writing. 

"One  of  our  first  objects  is  to  teach 
these  most  deserving  wards  of  the  nation 
the  pleasures  of  existence,"  said 
Monsieur  Brisae,  who  exercises  a  sort  of 
parental  care  over  them. 

The  home  is  so  agreeable  that  some  do 
not  want  to  leave  it  even  to  be  with 
their  families.  There  are  several  cases  of 
men  who  let';:  it,  and  asked  to  come 
back,  where  they  felt  the  surroundings 
cheerful  and  agreeable. 


f  o  \Audte 


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NEW  YORK  WOMAN  AIDS 

WAR-BLIND  IN  PARIS 


J* 


Miss   Vl'inifretl    HoH    to  be   t;iv«*n 
of    Lar^re    Ilon.se. 

Paris,  Oct.  24.— Miss  Winifred  HoltJ 
New  York  has  been  promised  the  use  of 
a.  large  house,  in  the  Etoite  Quarter  for 
bet  .-mall  war-blind  hospital  now  tem- 
porarily installed  in  the  Hotel  de  Crilion 
on    the    Place   de    la    Concorde. 

The  Crilion  institution  has  only  a  few 
blinded  inmates,  bur  send-  out  teachers 
on  their  errand  of  instruction  and  con- 
solation to  17  Paris  hospitals.  Wb< 
new  premises  have  been  properly  fitted 
they  will  receive  a  group  of  27  blinded 
office"?  and  men  as  a  beginning.  This 
.uumher,    h< 

great  1  j     and    it    is    hoped    that    a    e 
building  wil!  be  furni 

According-  to   Miss   Holt   and   her  assist- 
ants, Mho  are  all  Americans  !<■ 
in  Pons,  the  blinded  men  at  Aral   are  in- 
clined  to    give   way  to   <:■ 
especially   the  case  with   blind' 
ihe   blinded    you 
ing    things    more    resignedly    as 


tak- 
rule. 


One  of  the  la  iter  has  got  so  well  over 
hi«  misfortune  that  his  laugh  is  con- 
stantly heard  in  the  ward,  and  a  few 
days  ago  lie  said  to  one  of  Miss  Holt's 
helpers  that  "this  is  the  only  place  in 
Paris  where  one  is  amused."  The  course 
•ways  preceded  by  a  visit, 
ov    two    with    gifts    i  and    con- 

solatory words  Some  of  the  patients, 
too.  are  not  yet  in  a  state  to  receive  in- 
struction One  of  these  eases  is  a  sol- 
dier with  197  shrapnel  wounds,  more  than 
a  score  of  them  m  the  head. 


3/.oy^,  "W\a^SS»»  CLcL^^-r't  uS  g/-r-. 


>t  )  b  e,*C 


X5  -  1 1 i S 


Ne\$ 


at  a  Glance 
War 


MISS  WINIFRED  HOLT  of  New- 
York  has  been  promised  the  use  of  a 
large  house  In  the  Etoile  quarter  for 
her    small    war-blind    hospital    now 

Crillon  on  the  Place  de  la  Concorde, 

jp  pnrin 


2  '--■■   '    '-jorK,      v,.M.,  He,-ra^l 


^ 


I    t 


oe^r 


.    /   ,  IJ\ 


'Miss  Holt  Aids 
P  the  War  B1M 

* _ 

New  York  Woman  Has  Institution  in 

Paris  [o  Help  Those  Made 

Sightless. 


PARIS,  Sunday.— Miss  Winifred  Holt, 
of  New  York,  ha?  been  promised  the  use 
at  a  large  house  in  the  Etoile  quarter  for 
her  small  war  blind  hospital,  now  tem- 
porarily installed  in  the  Hdte]  de  Crillon, 
in  the  Place  de  la  Concorde. 


The   Crillon   institution    has    only 
blind  inmates,  but  sends  out  teachers   on 
their  errands   of  instruction  altd    consola- 
tion   1                        i    Paris   hospitals.     When 
the  new  premises  have  been  properly  fitted 
they  will  receive  a  group  of  twenty-seven 

blinded  officers  and  men  as  a  beginning-. 
This  number,  however,  is  certain  to  in- 
crease greatly,  and  it  is  hoped  that  a 
second   building  will   be  furnished. 

According  to  iMiss  Holt  and  her  as- 
sistants, who  are  all  Americans  long  resi- 
dent in  Paris,  the  blinded  men  at  first 
are  inclined  to  give  way  to  despair.  This 
is  especially  the  case  with  blinded  offi- 
cers, the  blinded  young  peasant  soldiers 
taking  things  more  resignedly  as  a  rule. 
One  of  the  latter  has  got  so  well  over  his 
misfortune  that  his  laugh  is  constantly 
heard  in  the  ward,  and  a  few  days  ago  he 
said  to  one  of  Miss  Holt's  helpers  that 
"This  is  the  only  place  in  I'aris  where 
one  is  amused." 

The  course  of  teaching  is  always  pre- 
ceded by  a  call  or  two  with  gifts  of  flow- 
ers and  consolatory  words.  Some  of  the 
patients,  too,  are'  not  yet  in  a  state  to 
receive  instruction.  One  of  these  cases  is 
a  soldier  with  197  shrapnel  wounds,  more 
than  a  score  of  them   in  the  head.  A 


-f  J  \f  U  vA.  <£,  W. 


^ 


,    R/  .  i. . ,   JU  ■   .•LLe/E 


I    i  I 


SISTER  BEATRICE  BARTLI#p 

WILL  SPEAK  IN  THIS  CITY 


Clothing:    and    Bandages    Sought    for 
European    War    Snfferers. 

Sister  Beatriec  Bartlett,  who  has  been 
in  close  touch  with  scenes  in  the  Euro- 
pean war  zone,  will  give  a  drawing  room 
talk  at  the  home  of  George  P.  Cressy, 
250  Waterman  street,  on  Friday  after- 
noon at  3  o'clock.  She  seeks  contribu- 
tions of  clothing,  bandages  and  other 
needy  articles  for  the  war  sufferers. 

Sister  Bartlett,   through  her  connection 
with  the  French  War  Office,  got  further 
into    the   secrets    of   the   war    than    most 
persons.     She    has    made   52    trips    a 
the   English    Channel,    carrying    buj 
and  has  witnessed  many  pitifu 
districts     where     there     were     hospitals. 


Early  In  the  conflict  she  saw  one  hos- 
pital base  surrounded  by  10,000  wounded 
and   40,000   refugees  seeking  assistance. 

"Many  cases  ofblijj^^M^gpime  to  her 
attention,  and  iiWW^WStance  there  were 
5000  cases  in  one  of  several  hospitals. 
She  found  that  the  affliction  came  as  a 
result  of  poisonous  gases  used  by  the 
Germans  and  by  exploding  bombs.  The 
soldiers  did  not  mind  the  loss  of  limbs, 
but  regarded  the  loss  of  sight  as  a  ter- 
rible  fate,    she   discovered. 

Sister  Bartlett  believes  it  to  be  the 
work  of  the  world  to  cope  with  the  condi- 
tions created  by  the  war,  as  all  the  world 
is  likely  to  be  filled  with  the  sightless 
and  those  driven  insane  by  their  experi- 
ences, for  all  of  whom  asylums  must  be 
provided.  Every  woman,  she  believes, 
should  be  taking  part  and  doing  some- 
thing for  those  at  the  front. 

She  took  a  munition  worker  from  Eng- 
land to  France  on  one  occasion  to  show 
him  the  war  conditions,  and  went  to  an 
improvised  hospital  where,  on  four  card 
tables  lashed  together,  9000  amputa- 
tions had  been  performed.  His  report 
to  140,000  of  his  mates  made  them  all 
workers   for  the  cause. 

Sister  Bartlett  has  told  of  seeing  many 
babies  with  their  hands  cut  off,  men  with 
their  noses  severed  from  their  faces,  and 
poor  women  with  their  breasts  cut  away. 
These  are  only  a  few  of  many  such  il- 
lustrations of  the  savagery  and  brutality 
of  the  Teutons,  she  has  declared.  She 
will  be  back  at  the  front  by  Dec.  1, 
she  expects. 


u        ■-     w    ^  ,        ^ 


y  «v  _  _ 


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BLIND  SOLDIERS 

TAUGHT  TO  WORK 

Parte  Institution  Is  En- 
larged to  Meet  Necessities 
Caused  by  the  War. 

To  accommodate  the  increasiiM- 
number  of  blind  soldiers,  the  Quinz4 
Vingts  Institution  for  the  Sightless? 
founded  by  Saint  Louis,  has  been 
enlarged  by  an  annex,  a  former  con- 
vent, which  is  called  the  convalescent 
home.  There  are  at  present  145  inmates 
of  the  annex.    They  are  sent  here  from 


all  parts  of  France,  even  before  they 
are  allowed  to  go  home.  Experience 
has  proven  that  at  the  home  the  sur- 
roundings and  influences.  are  less 
depressing  than  elsewhere.  A  certain 
mental  training  is  necessary  and  this 
can  best  be  effected  at  this  institution 
Wl-en  this  is  accomplished  they  an 
allowed  to  choose  jfc  trade  to  thei 
liking  or  any  work  to  which  they  may 
be  particularly  adapted.  Basket- 
making,  manufacture  of  brushes,  shoe- 
making,  printing,  stenography  and 
typewriting  are  being  taught,  among 
other  things.  Each  of  these  victims 
of  the  war  is  a  willing  student  and  an 
earnest  worker.  Notwithstanding  their 
affliction  they  are  a  most  cheerful  lot, 
as  the  bantering  which  may  be  heard 
in  a  visit  to  tho  various  workrooms 
indicates. 

Minister  of  the  Interior  Malvy,  ac- 
companied by  M.  Jules  Brisac  of  the 
public  health  service,  and  M.  Paul 
Ermard  and  a  representative  of  the 
Associated  Press  visited  the  home  re- 
cently. Entering  and  passing  through 
Joffre  Hall,  which  is  used  for  religious 
services  and  entertainments,  the  visit- 
ors were  treated  to  an  impromptu 
concert.  A  singer  in  nurse's  costume 
was  on  the  stage  before  a  piano. 
Beside  her  were  three  blind  soldiers — 
one  with  a  leg  amputated  and  the 
military  medal  and  war  cross  pinned 
to  his  breast — all  receiving  musical 
instruction.  Ignorant  of  the  presence 
of  the  visitors,  the  singer  and  her 
scldier  pupils  continued  their  lesson. 

A  tour  of  the  grounds  and  park  with 
which  the  buildings  are  surrounded, 
followed.  Seated  on  a  bench  in  the 
open  were  half  a  dozen  inmates  learn- 
ing the  making  cf  corded  fringe  for 
curtains.  Among  these  workers  was 
tho  naturalized  American,  Joseph 
Aniar  of  Washington,  D.  C,  who  was 
at  the  Lyons  Exposition  when  war  was 
declared  and  who  enlisted  in  the  for- 
eign legion  soon  after.  His  skill  and 
dexterity  brought  forth  a  compliment 
from  Monsieur  Malvy.  Amar  spends 
much  of  his  spare  time  perfecting  his 
French  while  taking  his  promenad'% 
with  one  of  the  nurses  as  guide  and 
teacher.— Correspondence  of  the  Asso- 
ciated Press. 


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115. 


l*o»e  Who  have  read  A  Beacon  for 
the  Blind,  will  not  be  «"PlTJfiafl~  Jftfrfi 
the  author,  Mies  Winifred  Holt,  should 
find  co  much  of  inspiration  among-  the 
blinded  soldiers  with  whom  she  is  now 
working.  A  study  of  Henry  Fawcett's 
indomitable  courtage  and  wonderful 
achievement*  is  not  the  the  least  of 
the  preparation  Miss  Holt  has  had  for 
her  work,  and  gives  one  hope  even  for 
the  infinitely  sadder  cases  with  which 
•he  is  now  concerned, 


YUuJ    Mdt^,    VI.   ^..    rie^acU 


1_l£- 


BLIND  MAN 
NOTABLE  PROTEST 

INSPIRED  BY 
KILLING  OF  NURSE 

In  Remarkable  Document,  Entitled 

"What  Is  Our  Duty?" 

Reginald  F.  JV\ayhew,  of  New 

Hyde  Park,  L.  I.,  Gives  Vent  to 

His  Indignation  at  the  Murder 

of   Miss  Cavell  by  Germans. 


k    £Mw&  *** 


Itt^U  Ja*  tM-  St**  S*AgJ>?,aJfiHijtf' 
<4CWf,  tO*~  &  fa?^  ft-  cj^f.  ^  fa 


M 


&*j  a 


&ip-*r  *<*  <«*£<  &*  ££  i^  *„# 


*»f&t»A  u^^ 


From  a  pen  guided  by  the  hand  of  a 
blind  man,  Reginald  F.  Mayhew,  of  New 
Hyde  Park,  L.  I.,  has  come  one  of  the 
moat  notable  documents  that  has  been  in- 
spired by  the  killing  of  Miss  Edith  Cavell 
by  Germans  in  Belgium.  Accompanying 
the  document,  which  is  entitled,  "What  Is 
Our  Duty?"  was  a  letter,  also  in  the  hand- 
writing of  Mr.  Mayhew,  which  said:— 
"To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald:— 
"More  than  once  my  inability  to  get  up 
and  do  my  'bit'  across  the  water  has 
stirred  me  beyond  measure,  and  in  lieu  I 
have  resorted  to  my  pen,  but  without 
going  the  length  of  writing  you.  This 
time,  however;  I  can  restrain  myself  less, 
so  go  to  the  length  of  submitting  the  in- 
closed to  you.  Whether  you  use  it  or  not 
my  pent  up  feelings  will  be  relieved  in  the 
knowledge  that  I  have  at  least  given  vent 
to  the  indignation  which  consumes  me. 
"Yours,  very  sincerely, 
"REGINALD  P.  MAYHEW." 

The  article  from  Mr.  Mayhew's  pen  is  as 
follows:— 

"What  is  our  duty? 

"Despite  the  immeasurable  span  of  time 
since  man's  first  law  was  'might,'  it 
would  seem  that  savagery  and  brutality 
need  only  an  encouraging  hand  to  re- 
assert itself  when  the  power  to  curb  it 
lies  prostrate  in  a  grip  of  iron. 

"So,  too,  civilization,  despite  its  vaunted 
love  cf  humanitj-,  its  Hague  conventions 
and  its  temple  of  peace,  has  proved  .a 
hollow  mockery  and  a  hideous  phantom. 

"Under  stress  of  events  what  is  our 
duty  to  mankind?  What  should  be  our 
part  in  the  stupendous  effort  being  made 
to  crush  the  power  which  would  force  the 
whole  world  to  submit  to  its  ruthless  and 
implacable  will?" 


BOSTON,    SUNDAY,    OCTOBER    31,    1915. 


Komanceand 
Tragedyof 

EuropeJr 

Broken  Men 


How  Faithful  Women 
Are  Marrying  the  Maimed, 
Blinded  and  Battered 
Heroes  of  the  Great 
Lonflict  in  Europe, 
and  the  Vast  Problem 
Presented  to  the 
Warring  Peoples  by 
the  Enormous 
Numbers  of 
Injured  Men 

MAURICE  MAETERLINCK  wrote  that  sorrowfully  appealing 
conception,  "The  Sightless,"  too  soon.  He  has  said  that  this  war 
Is  transforming  the  world,  changing  old  standards  to  a  profound  ap- 
preciation of  great  spiritual  truths,  and  that  through  the  horrible 
murk  of  widespread  murder  and  ruin  we  will  come  into  a  new  and 
glorious  vision.  We  shall  see  within  the  very  transfiguration  of 
seeing. 

This  may  be  an  unconscious  message  to  the  great  Army  of  the 
Blind,  smitten  to  silence  by  the  blight,  which  is  coming  in  torture 
and  darkness  from  many  of  the  battlefields — young  men  warm  w  th 
the  quick  of  life,  and  in  whose  blood  are  the  love  of  living- and  jlhe 
effective  will  to  live;  humans  to  whom  the  pleasures  of  sight  go 
linked  with  the  keen  appreciation  of  perfect  physical  being.  But 
they  are  doomed  for  the  melancholy  balance  of  mortal  days  to  a 
world    of   darkness — this    World    of  Sirhtless   Men. 


Besides  this  great  tragedy  of  the  war,  the  infinitely  pathetic  cre- 
ation of  the  Belgian  mystic  seems  but  a  poignant,  fleeting  expression 
Of  the  ban'shment  from  light  and  the  strange  abysses  and  intelli- 
gences of  darkness.  That  gave  us  a  hushed  glimpse  into  the  world 
Of  the  sightless;  but  here  we  have  melancholy  squadrons,  armies  of 
men  scourged  from  the  universe  of  visible  things  by  the  giant  hand 
of  War,  and  led  like  halting  infants  back  to  the  paths  of  peace — a 
World   of  Sightless   Men.— MARK    TELFAIR. 

•XLINDED  men  in  the  prime  of 
^  vigor,  faced  with  the  task  of 
living,  are  not  the  only  pa- 
etic  discards  of  war,  for  there  are 
ose  who  are  frightfully  maimed, 
thout  hands  and  legs.  They  form 
problem  to  which  all  of  the  war- 
ig  countries  have  addressed  them- 
Ives    with    a    vigor    already    pro- 

ctive  of  the  most  gratifying  re- 
Its.  In  France  there  is  efficiently 
ganized  "The  Friend  of  the 
ind";  in  England,  the  Blinded 
'ldiers  and  Sailors  Hotel,  St.  Dun- 
in's,  Regent's  Park;  in  Germany, 
e  Oscar-Helene-Heim,  at  Zehlen- 
»rf,  near  Berlin,  and  the  famous 
Indenburg  House,  at  Koenigsberg; 

Budapest,  a  special  hospital  is  to 
!  erected. 

It  is  a  sight  that  leaves  an  indel- 
le  impression  to  see  the  blind 
ounded  taking  their  first  walk 
>road  in  the  care  of  white-robed 
irses.  There  is  tragedy  sharply 
riten  on  every  face — tragedy  soft- 
ied  by  resignation,  sba?pened  by 
sspair,  and  made  brutally  effective 
'  mere  dumb  submissiveness.  And 
person  who  has  beheld  the  afflicted 

both  sides  says  they  show  these 
aracteristics: 

The  Frenchman  is  the  most  easily 
fluenced,  and,  though  he  may  sink 
to  the  gulf,  he  prefers  the  heights 

optimism. 

The  Austrian  is  depressed  and 
ooding.but  open  to  cheerful  ad- 
;e. 

>spital    Romance. 

The  Englishman  feels  the  tragedy 
rhaps  most  keenly,  but  accepts  it 


th  the  dogged  courage  that  marks 
tn  in  battle.  But  he  becomes  rec- 
ciled  to  the  inevitable  quite  soon. 
The  Russian  is  silent  and  uncom. 
lining.  He  accepts  fate  with  the 
tne  nerveless  indifference  that  he 
2es  death. 

The  German  blind  are  grim  stoics, 
d  the  maimed,  for  the  most  part, 
i  patient  and  hopeful. 
While  tragedy  abides  with  these 
pn,  romance  is  no  stranger,  for 
ne,  halt  or  blind  are  terms  that 
san  nothing  to  true  love.  There 
told  the  story  of  a  much  sought 
ter  English  beauty  who  rejected 
e  boy  who  went  to  the  war — in 
ct,  he  went  away  "to  forget  her" 
^and  who  came  like  an  angel  to 
m  when  he  was  brought  back 
ith  eyes  that  could  reflect  her 
age  no  more. 

A  nurse  in  the  hospital  where 
e  gave  her  attention  to  many,  she 
evertheless  made  him  her  especial 
are  and  led  his  first  hesitating 
teps  when  he  left  his  bed  to  go  out 
ito  the  sunlight  which  he  could 
ot  see.  He  lost  his  sight,  but  he 
iron  his  best  beloved,  who  will  be 
is  eyes. 

And  so  the  story  is  repeated,  with 
touches  of  beautiful  self-sacrifice 
that  transcends  the  most  romantic 
Action. 

Tne  first  thing  the  French  gov- 
ernment does  for  the  sightless  is 
to  present  each  with  a  pension  of 
$17  5  yearly;  and  a  little  money 
goes  a  long  way  in  France.  "The 
Friend  of  the  Blind  Soldier"  was 
organized  under  the  leadership  of 
Rene  Valley-Rarot,  vice-president  of 
the  Pasteur  Institute.  The  govern- 
ment gladly  co-operated  in  teaching 
the  soldiers  "the  art.  of  being  blind." 
Paul  Eraard,  secretary-general  of 
the  society,  whom  the  minister  of 
the  interior  placed  in  charge  of  the 
convalescent  home,  has  already 
wrought  a  miracle  for  his  blind  de- 
pendents, not  by  scriptural  "laying 
on  of  hands,"  bu1  by  more  modern 
methods  that  have  to  do  with  psy- 
chology   and    science. 


Marriage  of  Lieut.  Peptina 
(badly  wounded  in  the  foot) 
at  the  Church  of  St.  Jacques, 
in  Paris.    The  Lieutenant, 
Who  Won  Honors  for  Bravery, 
Was  Supported  to  the 
Carriage  by  His 
Beautiful  Young  Bride. 


Backed    by    the    French    govern 
ment  and  the  society  he  represents. 
he   has   created   a    second   "Lighted 
Hearth"  of  the  blind  community  un- 
der his  direction  in  Paris. 

"Earthly  Purgatory." 

"The  first  three  days  I  spent  here 
with  the  blind,"  he  says,  in  telling 
of  his  work,  "were  passed  in  the 
midst  of  a  sort  of  earthly  purgatory. 
I  have  never  before  seen  so  much 
thoroughgoing  misery  foregathered 
in  a  single  place.  My  charges 
moped  through  the  long  hours  of 
the  day,  nursing  their  bitterness. 
The  stillness  of  the  eights  was 
broken  often  and  of^en  by  their 
hoarse  sobs  as  they  lay  in  torture 
on  their  narrow  cots. 

*  At  that  time  our  workshops 
were  not  ready,  and  I  was  in  de- 
spair to  know  what  to  do  with  the 
men.  But  the  end  of  my  difficulties 
came  unexpectedly.  On  the  fourth 
day  of  our  history  here  I  discovered 
that  our  instructor  in  the  Braille 
system  of  reading  and  writing — 
himself  a  blind  man — had  learned 
the  trade  of  a  brushmaker.  He 
said  he  could  teach  a  man  to  make 
a  brush,  after  a  rough  fashion,  in  a 
few  hours. 

Salvation  in  Work 

"I  seized  the  opportunity  eagerly, 
found  the  tools  and  materials  for 
the  experiment,  and,  selecting  pur- 
posely the  most  despondent  man  in 
the  institution,  set  him  to  work  on 
a  brush  under  the  direction  of  the 
Braille  instructor.  The  result  was 
that  that  man  came  to  me,  before 
the  day  was  over,  cured  of  his  mel- 
ancholy. 

"  'I  am  saved/  he  told  me.  'I  am 
able  to  do  something  in  life  again! 
That  is  all  T  ask.' 

"Shortly  every  other  unfortunate 
had  heard  his  story.  The  psycho- 
logical    effect     was     instantaneous. 


From  that  moment  the  men  began 
to  experience  the  cheering  influence 
of  hope.  No  sooner  had  they  be- 
come aware  of  the  tremendous  fact 
that  they  were  still  good  for  some- 
thing in  the  world  than  they  took 
heart. 

"We  made  the  mistake  at,  first 
of  trying  recreation,  concerts,  games, 
lectures.  But  we  quickly  discovered 
that  the  men  deserted  everything 
in  favor  of  work.  They  would  rather 
make  brushes  and  baskets  or  cane 
chairs  than  listen  to  the  finest  music 
we  could  offer  them.  It  was  the 
same  with  games  and  lectures.  We 
found  the  psychological  value  of 
work  superior  to  that  of  any  other 
diversion  we  could  devise" 

Prof.  Hoeftmann,  director  of  the 
Hindenburg  House,  at  Koenigsberg, 
recently  conducted  an  amazing  dem- 
onstration with  a  man  with  two 
artificial  hands  and  two  artificial 
feet.  The  patient  had  so  mastered 
his  mechanical  aids  that  he  could  do 
almost  everything  that  a  normal  is 
called  upon  to  do  under  ordinary 
circumstances.  Another  man  so 
equipped  worked  at  anvn  and  drill 
in  the  workshop  and  seemed  to  have 
lost  by  his  misfortune  but  little  of 
his  old-time  skill.  Then  there  were 
many  men  at  their  former  occupa- 
tions with  artificial  arms  ai:d  feet. 

Teaching  in  Germany. 

"The  first  task  of  the  instructor," 
says  Dr.  Alfred  Gradenwitz,  "con- 
sists making  the  patient  independ- 
!ent  of  his  friends  and  reawakening 
in  him  the  self-confidence  which  he 
has  lost.  Already  at  the  hospital 
during  convalescence  proper,  he  has 
been  induced  to  idle  away  his  time 
with  manual  work  of  the  most  va- 
ried description,  thus  Dreventing 
him  from  brooding  over  the  out- 
look on  his  future  life.  At  the  crip- 
ples' home,  where  he  finds  the  mili- 
tary orders,  so  familiar  ro  him,  he 
learns,    from   early    morning   to   late 


(Private  Sherwood  of  the  Canadian  Troops,  Wounded  in  the  Head, 
Is  Married  in  London  to  Miss  Hannah  Stonehouse  of 
Winnipeg,  Who  Traveled  4000  Miles  for  the  Wedding. 


at  night,  how,  to  do  without  the 
help  of  others,  and  how  to  perform 
such  operations  as  belong  to  our 
daily  life.  Dressing,  washing,  mak- 
ing his  bed,  eating  ana  drinking, 
and  cutting  his  meat  and  bread 
with  one  hand  only,  all  this  affords 
an  opportunity  for  useful  exercise 
and  is  soon  mastered  by  the  patient. 
Left-hand  writing  is  readily  ac- 
quired by  those  whose  right  hand 
has  been  paralyzed  or  amputated." 

Herr  Untham,  an  armless  musical 
artist,  as  an  inspiration  to  the  crip- 
pled men  in  the  hospitals,  has  told 
in  the  Berliner  Tageblatt  how  he 
overcomes  tremendous  obstacles. 
Says  he: 

"A  person  who  sees  me -perform 
on  the  violin,  the  flute,  play  cards, 
shoot,  swim,  who  observes  how  I 
wash  myself,  file  my  nails,  sharpen 
a  pencil,  or  regulate  the  clock,  faces 
a  series  of  results  which  seem  inex- 
plicable to  him.  I  myself,  who  can 
review  my  whole  life  and  know  the 
patii  upon  which  I  succeeded  in  de- 
veloping my  faculties,  by  unremit- 
ting labor,  naturally  no  longer  find 
my  achievements  wonderful.  They 
appear  perfectly  natural  to  me,  and 
I  feel  convinced- that  every  one  who, 
with  my  physical  constitution,  is 
earnestly  desirous  to  advance,  will 
very  soon  accomplish  what  I  have 
done.  I  am  not  referring  here  to 
artistic  skill,  but  to  the  needs  of 
practical  life.  There  is  but  one 
road:  A  never-tiring  impulse  to  de- 
pend upon  one's  self — that  is,  to 
become  independent  of  others. 
Every  outside  aid,  therefore,  should 
be  firmly  refused  if  there  is  but  a 
shadow  of  possibility  of  being  able 
to  help  one's  self. 

"I  have  never  worried  myself 
with  efforts  to  replace  my  hand's 
and  arms  with  my  feet.  It  must 
not  be  concluded,  however,  that  my 
readiness  was  acquired  without  ef- 
fort. Locking  myself  in  a  room,  for 
fear  of  being  ridiculed,  I  would 
rack  my  brains  and  experiment,  un- 
til finally,  after  a  hundred  failures; 


a  possibility  of  realization  appeared 
in  sight.  Patience  and  again  pa- 
tience was  my  guiding  star. 

"Learning  to  play  the  violin  was 
the  thing  that  cost  me  the  great- 
est effort.  When,  after  endless  at- 
tempts, a  road  seemed  to  have 
been  found,  I  made  for  a  long  time 
no  perceptible  progress.  Willi  elm 
Schuster  in  Konigsberg,  and  subse- 
quently David  in  Leipzig,  took  pains 
to  teach  me  for  three  years,  until 
I  could  venture  to  make  my  first 
public  appearance  in  the  Leipzig 
Gewandhaus." 

But  the  most  interesting  testi- 
mony regarding  training  is  given  by 
Count  Zichy,  a  remarkable  one- 
armed  musician  of  Budapest,  vio- 
linist and  pianist,  who,  after  he 
had  been  the  guest  at  dinner  of 
Kaiser  Wilhelm  I.  and  played  sev- 
eral selections,  was  praised  in  these 
memorable  words: 

"I'm  not  a  musician,  nor  have  I 
conceived  a  fondness  for  you  on  ac- 
count of  your  art;  but  I  honor  your 
courage,  your  energy  and  the  per- 
severance with  which*you  have  over- 
come your  great  misfortune." 

"And,"  says  the  count,  "I  would 
impress  the  same  thing  now  upon 
the  hearts  of  all  the  one-armed:  to 
have  courage,  energy  and  persever- 
ance to  overcome  their  hard.  fate.M 

Appalled  by  the  great  number  of 
blinded  soldiers,  the  Hungarian  spe- 
cialists, Profs.  Grosz  and  "Szily,  have 
started  a  subscription  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  special  institution  destined 
to  assure  a  livelihood  for  these  un- 
fortunate victims  of  the  war.  There 
they  will  be  taught  occupations 
suitable  to  their  infirmity. 

On  the  other  hand,  Prof.  Biesalski 
of  Berlin  and  Prof.  Lorenz  of  Vienna 
are  concerned  not  only  in  caring 
for  the  wounded  soldiers,  but  in 
preparing  the  numberless  war  crip- 
ples for  their  future  tasks  of  gain- 
ing a  livelihood. 

Prof.  Lorenz  in  a  recent  lecture 
suggested  that  the  state  should 
take  into  its  own  hands  the  manu- 


facture  of  artificial  limbs.  Should 
this  be  found  impracticable,  then- 
all  manufacturers  of  these  conven- 
iences ought  to  unite  and  work  out 
together  the  best  models,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  professor's  sugges- 
tions. 

■ 


B 


o-n^ 


ti^-r 


.dU 


0 


_-tT 


3, 


BACK  FROM  THE  WAR 


ENGLAND     PLANS     TO     HELP     THE 
DISABLED     SOLDIER 


An  Account  of  the  Extensive  Organiza- 
tions Already  at  Work — Training  Men 
Who  Have  Lost  Their  Sight  —  Earl 
Grey's  Scheme  for  General  Outdoor 
Employment 


W 


HAT  is  to  become  of  the  dis- 
charged soldiers  after  the 
war  and  more  particularly  of 
those  who  are  disabled? 
This  double  question  is  being  asked  by- 
thousand  of  public  spirited  people  in 
England  today,  and  already,  although  the 
end  of  the  war  can  hardly  be  said  to  be 
in  sight,  organizations  are  at  work  pre- 
paring to  solve  the  problems  which  will 
arise  "when  Johnny  comes  marching 
home." 

At  first  sight  it  would  seem  that  the 
problem  of  the  discharged  soldier  from  a 
national  army,  such  as  that  of  England 
is  today,  would  not  be  a  difficult  one.  The 
men  joined  the  army  from  civil  life,  and 
in  a  large  number  of  cases  their  jobs  are 
being  kept  open  for  them.  This  applies 
to  the  class  of  clerks,  bookkeepers  and 
salaried   men   generally,   but   it   does   not 


affect  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  me- 


chanics and  laborers  who  are  paid  by 
the  day  when  they  are  at  work.  Even 
those  whose  jobs  are  open  for  them  may 
not  be  able  or  willing  to  resume  them. 

First  in  importance,  however,  there  are^ 
the  thousands  of  wounded  and  disabled 
soldiers    to    be    dealt    with.    No    one    will 


deny  that  a  man  who  has  lost  a  leg  or  an 
arm  for  his  country  or  who  has  con- 
tracted chronic  rheumatism  or  chest  dis- 
ease from  the  terrible  winter  conditions 
in  the  trenches  in  Flanders,  is  entitled  to 
the  best  the  country  can  do  for  him.  The 
country  has  already  done  something  in 
providing-  a  new  pension  scheme  under 
which  the  totally  disabled  man  will  draw 
about  $5  a  week  for  life,  and  the  par- 
tially disabled  proportionately  smaller 
sums,"  based  on  the  extent  of  their  in- 
capacity to  support  themselves.  It  is 
these  partially  disabled  men  and  even 
some  of  those  who  will  be  classed  as 
totally  disabled  who  present  the  most 
difficult  problem,  for  the  country  owes 
it  to  them  to  protect  many  of  these  men 
against  themselves.  Take  the  case  for 
instance,  of  a  strong  vigorous  young 
man  who  has  lost  both  his  legs  or  who 
has  lost,  his  sight.  In  each  case  he  will 
be  classed  as  totally  disabled,  and  if  he 
comes  from  the  ranks  of  unskilled  labor 
he  will  receive  a  pension  equal  to  his 
earnings  before  he  enlisted,  and  coming 
every  week  with  the  regularity  of  the 
clock.  He  is  a  hero  to  his  friends  and 
neighbors  and  he  has  nothing  to  do. 
What  more  natural  than  that  he  should 
drift  into  the  saloon,  the  poor  man's  club, 
where  he  will  always  find  some  one  to 
treat  him  in  return  for  his  stories  of  the 
war.  The  danger  is  that  such  men,  un- 
less provided  with  employment,  will  drift 
into  undesirable  habits  and  will  be  in- 
jured rather  than  helped  by  the  pensions. 

The  remedy  is  to  teach  them  trades  a* 
which  they  can  supplement  their  pen- 
sions, and  in  the  case  of  unskilled  labor- 
ers rise  to  the  higher  level  of  the  skilled 
workman.  In  the  case  of  the  man  of 
skill  or  of  the  commercial  or  professional 
class,  he  must  be  taught  some  work 
which  will  enable  him  to  maintain  him- 
self at  something  like  the  level  of  com- 
fort to  which  he  has  been  accustomed. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the 
schemes  for  helping  disabled  soldiers 
which  is  already  at  work  Is  that  of  C. 
Arthur  Pearson  for  training  the  men  who 
have  lost  their  sight  in  the  war.  Mr.  Pearson 
who  was  formerly  a  great  newspaper 
publisher  in  London,  lost  his  own  sight  a 
few  years  ago,  and  he  is  now  devoting 
his  life  to  helping  his  fellows  in  mis- 
fortune. He  is  chairman  of  the  National 
Institute  for  the  Blind,  and  he  made  such 
a  record  as  an  organizer  and  money 
raiser  that  when  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
Fund  for  the  relief  of  distress  arising 
out  of  the  war  was  started  he  was  placed 
in  charge  of  it,  and  he  has  succeeded  in 
raising  for  it  about  $20,000,000.  Now  he 
has  started  a  special  institution  for 
training  blind    soldiers    and    sailors    and 


already  he  has  more  than  fifty  hard  at 
work  fitting  themselves  to  become  wage 
earners. 

Otto  Kahn,  the  famous  banker,  has 
given  him  a  house  in  Regent's  Park, 
called  St.  Dunstan's,  which  has  been  spe- 
cially fitted  up  for  the  purpose,  and  there 
the  men  are  learning  carpentry,  boot 
making,  basket  making,  telephone  oper- 
ating, massage,  poultry  farming  and  mar- 
ket gardening.  Several  who  are  men  of 
education  are  learning  stenography  and 
and  typewriting  and  all  are  being  taught 
to  read  the  Braille  alphabet. 

A  visit  to  St.  Dunstan's,  which  has  been 
renamed  the  Blinded  Soldiers'  and  Sailors' 
Hostel,   is  a  revelation  in  optimism. 

"A  cheerier  set  of  fellows  I  never  met 
in  my  life,"  said  Mr.  Pearson.  "They're 
just  bubbling  over  with  good  spirits  and 
hope  for  the  future,  and  they  are  making 
remarkably  quick  progress.  Most  of  them 
can  read  Braille  already. 

"They  take  a  keen  interest  in  the 
amusements  we  provide  for  them.  St. 
Dunstan's  is  on  an  arm  of  the  Regent's 
Park  lake  and  they  are  able  to  go  row- 
ing which  is  an  ideal  exercise  for  the 
blind." 

Among  the  men  in  training  at  ,St.  Dun- 
stan's are  three  officers  of  the  army,  one 
of  the  navy — a  midshipman — and  three 
Belgian  officers.       ^ 

Major  General  Lord  Cheylesmore  is 
the  most  active  spirit  in  the  movement 
for  the  training  of  disabled  soldiers  and 
sailors  in  general.  This  is  being  under- 
taken as  a  spcial  branch  of  the  work  of 
the  Soldiers'  and  Sailors'  Help  Society,  of 
which  the  king  and  queen  are  patrons 
and  in  which  the  late  Lord  Roberts  was 
keenly  interested.  A  plan  is  being 
worked  out  now  for  the  extension  of  the 
society's  workshops  and  training  depart- 
ment as  a  memorial  to  that  great  soldjer, 
and  it  has  the  hearty  support  of  his 
widow  and  daughters. 

Lord  Cheylesmore  declares  that  in  his 
experience  what  most  of  the  disabled 
men  dread  is  the  prospect  of  a  long  life 
with  nothing  to  do,  no  matter  how  com- 
fortably they  may  be  provided  for. 

"The  other  day,"  he  said,  "a  man 
limped  into  the  society's  head  office.  He 
had  lost  one  leg  at  Mons  and  was  in- 
jured in  the  other  and  has  just  been  dis- 
charged  from   the-  hospital. 

"  'For  God's  sake,'  he  said,  'give  me 
something  to  do.  I  can't  stick  this  any 
longer.  What  I  want  is  something  to 
think   about.' 

"That  is  typical  of  the  attitude  of  most 
of  the  men  although  they  do  not  gen- 
erally express  it  so  clearly.  They  want 
something  to   take  their  minds  off   their 


misfortunes  and  the  best  thing  for  that 
purpose  is  work  and  the  knowledge  that 
although  maimed  they  are  still  of  use  in 
the  world." 

Many  of  these  disabled  men  if  trained 
in  the  society's  worksho'ps  need  not  lose 
touch  with  the  army  which  they  have 
learned  to  love.  The  society  makes  a 
specialty  of  training  men  for  army  sup- 
ply work,  and  in  ordinary  times  under- 
takes contracts  itself  for  saddlery,  har- 
ness, woodwork,  and  the  host  of  small 
articles  which  are*  included  in  the 
soldier's  kit  and  equipment.  The  men 
are  paid  the  full  trade  union  rate  of 
wages,  and  as  ail  official  of  the  society 
said  the  other  day,  "they  were  worth 
every  farthing  of  it.  They  are  highly 
skilled  workmen,  and  not  gifted  ama- 
teurs when  they  have  finished  with  our 
training."  The  training  is  not  stere- 
otyped, however.  Every  effort  is  made  to 
find  out  if  a  man  has  any  special  gifts  or 
aptitudes.  It  was  discovered  that  one  of 
the  men  who  lost  a  leg  in  one  of  the 
early  battles  of  the  war — a  sergeant  in 
the  Buffs —  had  a  taste  for  wood  carving, 
although  he  had  never  received  any  tech- 
nical education.  This  was  provided  and 
now  he  is  earning  a  larger  income  than 
many  a  middle  class  professional  man, 
turning  out  comic  toys  for  children — 
funny  German  and  French  and  British 
soldiers,  and  comic  animals  something 
like  those  popularized  by  the  late  Caran 
d'Ache.  Another  man  who  had  a  talent 
for  water-color  drawing  was  also  in- 
structed and  is  able  to  add  substantially 
to  his  pension  by  drawing  war  pictures, 
some  of  which  have  had  a  large  sale  as 
picture  post-cards. 

A  most  elaborate  organization  has  been 
worked  out  by  the  society  in  order  that 
no  disabled  soldier  may  have  any  diffi- 
culty in  getting  into  touch  with  it.  In 
practically  every  town  and  village  in 
England  it  has  a  voluntary  agent,  usually 
someone  with  military  connections,  who. 
is  known  as  the  "soldier's  friend."  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  friend  to  hunt  up  every 
returning  soldier  in  his  district  and  find 
out  if  he  needs  any  help  and  what  kind 
of  help  is  most  suitable.  If  the  "War 
Office  is  slow  In  sending  his  pension  or 
pay,  as  often  happens  in  these  days  of 
pressure,  the  friend  advances  him  money 
to  go  on  with.  If  he  wants  work  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  friend  to  find  out  what  he 
can  do,  or  if  he  has  no  available  trade 
to  discover  what  his  tastes  and  aptitudes 
are  and  to  arrange  for  his  training  Some- 
times this  can  be  done  locally,  if  the 
men  prefer  to  remain  at  home,  but  in 
most  cases  the  men  are  sent  up  to  the 
society's    workshops,    in    London,    Surrey. 


Dublin  and  Edinburgh  for  their  training:. 
They  often  elect  to  remain  there  as  per- 
manent   employees. 

Earl  Grey,  formerly  Governor  General 
of  Canada,  is  at  the  head  of  another 
scheme  for  the  settling-  of  men  who  have 
been  crippled  by  rheumatism  or  who 
have  contracted  other  cold  diseases,  in 
the  sunny  parts  of  the  Empire.  This  is 
only  part  of  a  general  scheme  for  pro- 
viding outdoor  and  independent  employ- 
ment for  any  discharged  soldier  who 
wishes  to  take  advantage  of  it,  but  it  is 
the  part  that  has  attracted  a  great  deal 
of  public  attention.  Even  the  South 
African  war,  fought  in  a  milder  climate 
than  the  scene  of  the  present  struggle, 
sent  home  many  permanent  cripples  from 
rheumatism,  and  Americans  will  remem- 
ber the  terrible  toll  of  this  disease  among 
their  fathers  who  fought  in  the  Civil 
War.  The  Royal  Colonial  Institute  has 
appointed  a  committee  to  investigate 
the  whole  question  of  settling  discharged 
soldiers  on  the  vacant  lands  of  the  Em- 
pire and  this  committee  has  been  in- 
structed to  pay  special  attention  to  the 
case  of  the  men  whose  comfort  will  de- 
mand a  more  genial  climate  than  that  of 
England  or  Canada.  One  of  the  fellows 
of  the  institute'  is  now  travelling  through 
Australia  collecting  information  about 
what  land  may  be  available  and  on  what 
terms,  for  soldiers  of  this  class,  and  he 
will  confer  with  the  State  governments 
with  a  view  to  securing  free  land  and 
assisted  passages  for  the  men  who  have 
given  their  health  in  the  services  of  the 
Empire.  Canada  has  already  offered  free 
farms  for  ex-soldiers,  but  the  nature  of 
her  climate  demands  that  they  should  be 
fairly  able-bodied  men. 

Earl  Grey's  plan  provides  for  the  es- 
tablishment in  London  of  a  central 
agency  at  which  all  the  States  of  the 
Empire  might  pool  their  available  land. 
Soldiers  wishing  to  become  settlers  could 
apply  there  and  all  the  information  as 
to  climate,  conditions  of  gift  or  pur- 
chase, passage  out,  and  other  conditions 
could  be  given  to  them  in  a  few  minutes. 
This  agency  would  also  be  prepared  to 
assist  with  the  passage  money  for  the 
soldier  and  his  family  or  even  in  suitable 
cases  to  advance  the  whole  of  it.  The 
agency  would  also  be  in  a  position  to  in- 
vestigate the  good  faith  and  suitability 
of  every  applicant  and  thus  save  the 
dominions  from  the  risk  of  criminals  or 
incapables  dumped  on  them. 

Another  phase  of  the  post  war  situa- 
tion is  being  considered  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  especially  by  Lloyd  George, 
assisted     by     John     Eurns     whose     wide 


knowledge  of  labor  and  social  conditions 
is  being-  made  use  of  by  the  Government 
although  he  is  no  longer  in  the  cabinet. 

This  is  the  task  of  getting  .the  dis- 
charged soldiers  back  to  work  when  the 
great  army  is  disbanded.  It  is  estimated 
that  there  are  now,  or  will  be  before 
long,  nearly  4,000.000  men  under  arms. 
The  strength  of  the  regular  army  before 
the  war  was  only  about  300,000.  It  is  un- 
likely, of  course,  that  it  will  return  to 
that  figure  for  many  years  to  come,  but 
assuming  that  even  a  million  men  are 
kept  under  arms,  that  will  leave  three 
millions  to  be  reabsorbed  by  the  labor 
market.  Many,  of  course,  will  go  back  to 
their  old  jobs  as  soon  as  they  get  their 
discharge,  and  many  will  be  taken  care  of 
by  Earl  Grey's  scheme  and  other  similar 
schemes.  There  will  still  remain  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  men  who  will  find  that 
their  jobs  have  disappeared  during  the 
changes  of  war,  or  have  been  filled  by 
others  who  refuse  to  give  them  up. 

One  of  the  schemes  under  consideration 
by  Lloyd  George  is  taken  from  the 
United  States  where  war  veterans  have 
the  preference  in  all  public  employment. 
It  is  proposed  to  adopt  a  similar  pro- 
vision here,  extending  it  not  only  to  na- 
tional but  to  municipal  and  semi-public 
employment  of  all  kinds.  It  may  even 
be  made  a  condition  in  contracts  for  sup- 
plies for  public  departments  that  the  con- 
tractors must  as  far  as  possible  give  the 
preference  to  workmen  who  can  show  an 
army  discharge.  If  this  plan  is  adopted 
men  who  have  been  employed  on  arma- 
ment work  in  England  throughout  the 
war,  or  who  have  been  deterred  from  en- 
listing by  the  necessity  of  keeping  the 
armies  going,  will  be  supplied  with  cer- 
tificates placing  them  on  an  equality,  as 
far  as  chances  of  employment  go,  with 
the  actual  fighting  men. 

One  thing  is  certain  and  that  is  that 
in  the  present  temper  of  the  English  peo- 
ple the  men  who  have  done  the  fighting 
must  not  want  for  anything  when  they 
come  back  home.  How  long  that  temper 
will  last  it  is  hard  to  say,  but  in  favor  of 
its  permanence  is  the  truly  national 
character  of  the  army.  There  is  hardly 
a  family  in  the  country  that  has  not 
given  at  least  one  member  to  the  forces, 
and  it  must  be  remembered  that  these 
are  all'yourlg  men — not  only  of  military, 
but  of  voting  age.  The  army  vote  will  be 
a  very  real  thing  in  England  after  the 
war,  and  will  keep  the  politicians  up  to 
a  keen  sense  of  their,  duty  to  the  old 
soldier. 

[Copyright,    1015.    by    Curtis    Brown] 


r  Uuicidtg/^h^ia^  »    rk^.,    U^ci^< 


^ 


«.-r- 


/e-m  b  e-r   f-  l^T  i  5. 


AMERICAN'S 
LONDON  HOME 

NOW  HOSTEL 

FOR  THE 

SOLDIER  BLLNJ} 

Written  for  Public  Ledger 

By  HAYDE&  CHURCH 

Vl^nTDON,    Oct.    28. 

WHEN  Otto  l<\tu,  the  American 
millionaire,  visits  St.  Dunstan's, 
his  be^KyjSul  \h3m1e  in  Regent's  Park, 
nowadays,  \e  must  lind  it  hard  indeed  to 
recognize  trie  wonderful  mansion  that 
was  built  by  the  third  iMarquis  of  Hert- 
ford, the  original  of  the  wicked  Lord 
Steyne,   in   "Vanity  Fair." 

For  what  was  the  wonderful  ballroom, 
with  its  lofty  walls  of  red,  white  and  gold, 
is  now  filled  with  desks  at  which  young 
men  with  shades  or  bandages  over  their 
eyes  and  with  quiet  women  sitting  beside 
them,  are  working  typewriters  and  pound- 
5ng  away  at  other  queer  little  machines 
that  look  like  typewriters  and  yet  ob- 
viously aren't. 

In  the  former  library  another  group  of 
young  fellows  are  gathered  around  a  skel- 
eton and  obviously  studying  anatomy.  In 
what  was  the  conservatory  plants  worth 
a  king's  ransom  have  given  way  to 
benches  and  carpenter's  tables,  at  which 
bootmaking,  joining  and  basket  and  mat- 
making  are  in  active  progress,  while  in 
part  of  the  beatiful  grounds,  sacred  hith- 
erto to  tennis,  croquet  and— no  doubt— to 
polite  philandering,  the  humble  occupa- 
tion of  poultry  keeping  is  quite  evidently 
going  on. 


At  first  sight,  there  is  nothing  particu- 
larly surprising-  in  this  metamorphosis  of 
one  of  the  most  renowned  mansions  and 
most  beautiful  estates  in  the  London  dis- 
trict, for,  with  such  an  endless  amount 
of  war  work  going  on  everywhere,  state- 
ly mansions  all  over  the  metropolis  are 
being  used  for  that  purpose. 

Under  Blind  Instructors 

Even  the  most  casual  observer,  how- 
ever, could  not  fail  to  recognize  that  the 
men,  all  young,  vigorous  looking,  and 
apparently  light-hearted  that  one  sees 
doing  stunts  here  are  not  ordinary  war- 
workers,  and  at  the  second  glance  one 
sees  that  they  are  all  blind,  and  that  so, 
too,  are  those  who  are  instructing  them! 

These  men  are  one  and  all  British  sol- 
diers, and  sailors  who  have  been  blinded 
in  battle,  some  by  bullets,  some  through 
explosions  and  some  through  pure  shock, 
and  here  at  "St.  Dunstan's  Hostel,"  as 
the  American  millionaire's  mansion  has 
Veen  renamed,  they  are  being  taught 
trades  that  will  enable  them,  hereafter, 
to, earn  their  own  living.  More  than  that, 
in  fact!  They  are  being  taught,  as  the 
phrase  there  goes,  "how  to  be  blind," 
which  means,  in  a  word,  how  to  manage 
best  and  be  at  least  fairly  happy  in  spite 
of  their  terrible  affliction,  perhaps  the 
worst   that   can    happen    to  one. 

The  man  who  started  this  hotel,  and 
who  carries  it  on  with  characteristic  en- 
ergy and  wonderful  cheerfulness,  is  a 
blind  man,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  of 
his  time.  He  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  the 
ex-publisher,  whose  story  is  well  known. 

Beginning  as  an  ordinary  clerk  in  the 
famous  house  of  Newnes,  which  issues 
the  Strand  Magazine.  Tit-Bits  and  so 
many  other  well-known  publications,  he 
rapidly  worked  himself  up  to  the  position 
of  its  manager,  which  he  occupied  for 
several  years.  Then  he  started  out  on 
his  own  hook,  launched  Pearson's  Weekly 
and  made  a  success  of  it  by  means  of  the 
"missing-word  contest,"  started  Pearson's 
Magazine  and  made  a  success  of  it,  and 
from  that  went  on  until  a  few  years  ago 
he  was  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
pewerful  men  in  the  publishing  world  of 
London,  owner  of  the  Daily  Express  and 


the  famous  Standard,  as  well  as  of  sev- 
eral provincial  papers,  and  one  of  the 
strongest  supporters  In  England  of  the 
late  Joseph  Chamberlain  and  his  tariff  re- 
form policy.  Report  says  that  he  more 
than  once  declined  the  offer  of  a  proud 
title. 

Tangible    Result    of   Efforts 

And  then  he  lost  his  sight!  Lost  it  first 
by  degrees  and  then  outright.  It  was  a 
"bludgeoning  of  chance"  that  would  have 
crushed  most'  men,  but  not  Arthur  Pear- 
son. Always  a  philanthropist  (his  "fresh 
air  fund"  for  poor  children  has  brought 
happiness  into  thousands  of  wretched  lit- 
tle lives),  instead  of  sitting  down  and  la- 
menting his  hard  fate,  he  devoted  himself 
instead  to  efforts  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of 
others  afflicted  like  himself.  Into  the  de- 
tails of  what  he  has  accomplished  in  that 
direction  one  need  not  go,  but  the  Na- 
tional Institute  for  the  Blind,  of  which 
he  is  now  president,  is  one  tangible  re- 
sult of  his  efforts. 

When  the  war  broke  out  Pearson  de- 
voted himself  to  relief  work.  The  Prince 
of  Wales'  Fund,  which  has  collected 
something  like  $30,000,000,  was  his  crea- 
tion. When  men  began  coming  home 
blinded  from  the  front,  Pearson  saw  for 
himself  a  new  field  of  usefulness.  These 
brave  fellows,  who  believed  that  life  was 
ended  for  them,  must  be  shown  that  they 
could  still  be  useful  citizens;  that  they 
could  even  be  fairly  happy. 

With  the  aid  of  the  British  Red  Cross 
Society  and  the  Order  of  St.  John  of 
Jeiusalem,  Pearson  started  a  temporary 
home  for  them,  but  he  wanted  one  that 
would  be  ideal.  So  he  went  to  his 
friend  Otto  Kahn,  of  the  famous  firm 
of  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Co.^aud  jsogUy :, asked 
for  the  loan  of  St.  Dunstan's,  his  beau- 
tiful London  home,  for  this  purpose,  and 
(all  honor  to  the  American)  got  it. 

This  famous  mansion,  which  has 
passed  through  many  hands  since  the 
Marquis  of  Hertford  built  it,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  ago,  and  which  Otto  Kahn 
has  owned  for  upward  of  13  years,  is 
undeniably  one  of  the  choicest  residences 
in  or  about  London.  It  is  surrounded  by 
an  estate  of  15  acres,  which  adjoins  and 
formerly  was  part  of  Regent's  Park,  one 


of  the  loveliest  and  "wildest"  of  Lon- 
don's renowned  open  spaces  and  which 
includes   a  beautiful   lake. 

Looking  from  the  picturesque  "terrace" 
in  the  rear  of  the  mansion,  one  might 
easily  imagine  oneself  in  the  heart  of 
the  country,  for  not  one  single  trace  of 
London  can  be  seen,  nothing  but  undu- 
lating lawn,  trees  and  wTater! 

Leirn   Unbelievable   Things 

Truly  an  almost  ideal  temporary  home 
for  sightless  victims  of  war.  And  what 
unbelievable  things  they  learn  here,  to  be 
sure!  To  be  divers  for  one  thing— can 
you  credit  it?— as  well  as  to  be  masseurs 
(hence  the  anatomy  class),  telephone 
operators,  shorthand  writers  and  typists, 
poultry  experts,  bootmakers,  carpenters, 
basket  makers  and  a  dozen  other  things. 
This,  too,  almost  entirely  from  blind 
teachers--for,  as  Pearson  himself  pithily 
put  it,  "If  you,  as  a  man  with  sight,  tell 
one  of  these  chaps  to  'buck  up,'  because 
he  can  learn  carpentry,  say,  quite  easily, 
he  Is  apt  to  think,  'Go  to  the  devil!  What 
do  you  know  about  it?'  But  if  a  blind 
man  who  is  an  expert  carpenter  tells 
him  the  same  thing,  he  is  the  more  likely 
to  believe  it,  and  to  pitch  in  with  courage 
and  enthusiasm." 

Meanwhile,  in  their  leisure  moments, 
these  blind  "Tommies"  and  "Jacks" 
learn  to  row  on  the  lake  in  the  grounds 
and  become  expert  oarsmen,  as  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  St.  Dunstan's  crack 
"four"  proves.  In  races  on  the  Thames 
at  Putney,  during  the  past  summer,  they 
bested  several  blind  crews  from  other 
institutes,  and  so  recently  as  on  Thursday 
last,  over  the  same  course,  they  met  a 
"sighted"  crew  from  Emmanuel  College, 
and    beat   them   decisively! 

"By  four  lengths,"  declared  one  of  the 
iretty  volunteer  helpers  at  St.  Dun- 
stan's who  described  the  races  to  the 
writer.  "We  say  by  six  lengths,  but  they 
dispute  that.  Still  it  was  a  fine  win  for 
our  fellows  and  mighty  proud  they 
were!" 

Of  course,  the  "cox"  in  such  cases  has 
to  be  a  "sighted"  person.  Rowing,  It 
.fiftftraa^-.tf-  lh.fr  iwm  of -re«w«W!f'Trfo*tn 
these  blind  soldiers  like  the  best  be- 
cause   it    is    the   only  one    in    which    they 


can  feel  that  they  are  conducting  other 
people,  instead  of  being  conducted  by 
them. 

Perhaps  the  best  way  of  "visualizing" 
St.  Dunstan's  for  you  will  be  to  describe 
how  it  was  shown  me  by  the  genius  of  it 
all,  C.  Arthur  Pearson  himself.  He  is 
there,  among  his  "boys,"  as  he  calls 
them,  virtually  all  the  time,  and  spends 
the  rest  in  visiting  the  hospitals,  inter- 
viewing blinded  men  there,  and  putting 
hope  into  them  by  telling  them  what  can 
be  done  for  them  at  the  house  that  was 
built  by  the  famous  and  naughty  noble- 
man who  was  one  of  the  originators  of 
the  celebrated  "Wallace  Collection,"  and 
whom  Thackeray  immortalized. 

Arrived  at  St.  Dunstan's,  and  awaiting 
one's  turn  to  be  received  by  Its  energetic 
head,  one  sees  doors  open  and  men  emerge 
who  obviously  are  blind,  and  yet  who  go 
straight  ahead  on  their  way  to  one  part 
of  the  building  or  another  as  if  in  full 
possession   of   their   sight. 

But  here  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson  coming 
to  greet  his  caller,  and  one  rises  to  re- 
turn his  greeting  with  curiosity  mingled 
with  sympathy.  I  had  not  seen  him  for  10 
years.  Then  he  was  most  active.  He 
has  changed  little,  save  for  his  dark 
eyes,  which  are  obviously  sightless.  Tall 
and  well  built  and,  quite  evidently,  as  full 
of  "ginger"  as  ever,  the  only  other  sign 
of  his  affliction  is  the  fact  that  when  he 
extends  his  hand  to  grasp  yours,  he  puts 
it  out,  not  straight,  but  far  to  the  side 
and  too  high  up,  making  it  necessary  for 
you  to  do  ditto. 

"Now  let  me  take  you  round,"  he  says, 
and  with  quick  strides  leads  the  way 
(along  a  baize  path)  into  the  former  ball- 
room, where  some  20  or  30  sightless  ex- 
warriors  are  studying  Braille  and  read- 
ing it,  working  typewriters  and  tapping 
at  the  other  queer  little  machines  that 
have  been  mentioned.  These  prove  to 
be  shorthand  machines,  which  write  the 
signs  in  Braille  on  a  thin  paper  tape. 
This  the  operator  reads  between  his  fin- 
gers and  then  transcribes  the  contents  on 
a  special  Braille  typewriter. 


C.   ARTHUR   PEARSON 

Former     publisher,     himself     sight* 

U«l    win.    direct*   a    home    for    hiinrt 

veterans. 


A  Tour  of  the  Grounds 

"Those  machines  are  necessary,"  said 
Pearson,  "because  no  blind  person  can 
write  accurately  by  hand.  My  own  writ- 
ing has  now  become  next  to  Indecipher- 
able. Soon  it  will  have  become  quite  so. 
But  with  the  aid  of  these  machines  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  any  of  these  chaps 
from  becoming  expert  stenographers  and 
typewriters. 

"Now  let's  go  out  into  the  grounds," 
he  continued,  and  led  the  way  through 
a  doorway  and  out  upon  the  terrace,  at 
the  front  of  which  was  a  flight  of  some 
four  or  five  stone  stairs.  I  noticed  that 
we  were  now  on  a  slate  path,  which,  out 
of  doors,  takes  the  place  of  the  baize 
ones  within.  Pearson  was  ahead,  just  at 
the  top  of  the  stairs.  Involuntarily  I 
took  his  arm,  but  he  released  himself 
gently. 

"I'm  quite  all  right,"  he  laughed,  and 
then  I  noticed  that  just  above  the  first 
step  and  under  the  last  there  were 
wooden  boards.  "A  board  means  dan- 
ger," he  explained.  "It  tells  me,  for  ex- 
ample, that  I  am  at  the  top  of  the  stairs 
and  will  tell  me  when  I  am  at  the  bot- 
tom." So  he  went  down  with  brisk  steps 
and  then  set  off  once  more,  following  the 
slate  path  along  the  gravel.  Suddenly, 
with  unerring  sense  of  position,  he 
stopped.  We  were  in  front  of  an  ancient- 
looking  clock  set  in  the  side  of  the  man- 
sion. Above  it  was  a  huge  bell,  on  either 
side  of  which  were  two  giant  figures, 
armed  with  hammers,  which,  run  by 
mecnanism,  strike  the  hours. 

"That  is  the  thing,"  said  Pearson, 
pointing,  just  as  if  he  could  see  it,  "from 
which  this  house  takes  its  name.  Those 
figures  and  the  clock  once  were  in  the 
steeple  of  the  Old  City  Church  of  St. 
Dunstan's-in-the-West,  and  the  Marquis 
of  Hertford,  the  Lord  Steyn  of  'Vanity 
Fair,'  when  he  was  a  little  boy  used  to 
be  taken  down  by  his  nurse  to  see  them. 

"He  made  up  his  mind  then,  they  say, 
that  when  he  grew  up  and  had  a  house 
of  his  own,  he  would  have  those  figures 
if  they  could  be  got,  and  have  them  he 
did,  as  you  see.  When,  in  1825,  the  old 
Regent's     Park     was     parceled     out,     the 


Marquis  bought  these  15  acres  and  erect- 
ed this  house,  and  when  later  on  it  was 
decided  to  remove  these  historic  figures 
and  the  clock  from  the  church,  he  bid 
them  in,  sot  them  up  here,  and  there- 
after called  his  abode  'St.  Dunstan's.'  " 

Work  for  the  Sightless 
On  our  way  to  the  conservatory,  which 
is  now  a  workshop,  we  were  now  pass- 
ing through  a  sort  of  alleyway,  between 
shrubbery,  with  a  railing  on  each  side. 
On  this,  I  noticed,  my  guide  kept  one 
hand,  and,  directly  we  reached  the  end, 
where  several  paths  branched  off,  he 
turned  sharply  to  the  right. 

"Do  you  notice?"  he  said.  "Just  before 
we  come  to  the  end  of  this  railing,  my 
hand  meets  a  little  raised  button.  That 
tells  me  that  I  must  turn  to  the  right!" 
And  so  on  we  went. 

In  the  conservatory  we  saw  blind  sol- 
dier boys  making  all  sorts  of  things  un- 
der the  direction  of  blind  experts.  One 
of  the  men  who,  previous  to  the  war, 
had  been  a  gamekeeper  near  Nottingham, 
was  just  finishing  a  wooden  "foster- 
mother"  to  be  used  in  the  hennery,  others 
were  making  "telescopic  tables,"  stools 
and  hatracks,  and  beautiful,  indeed,  some 
of  the  work  was.  Still  others  were  weav- 
ing mats,  "tfusy  with  basket  work,  re- 
pairing shoes. 

Most  of  them  were  whistling— one  sight- 
less boy,  who,  seated  on  the  floor,  was 
fabricating  a  basket,  being  engaged  in 
pouring  out  "When  the  Boys  Come 
Home"  with  all  the  strength  of  his  lungs. 
I  talked  with  several  of  them,  and  they 
all  seemed  interested  in  their  work  and 
hopeful  for  the  future.  Pearson  had  a 
friendly  word  and  a  grasp  of  the  arm 
for  each  of  them,  and  knew  them  all  by 
their  names. 

Experts  in  Poultry 
Next  we  visited  the  poultry  farm  and 
the  market-garden,  and  finally  what  Is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
the  place— the  last  two  combined.  Here, 
by  a  most  ingenious  arrangement  of 
wired  enclosures  radiating  from  the  four 
walls  of  the  chicken  house,  with  a  door 
In  each  wall,  the  blind  man  learns  to  rear 


his  chickens  with  orderly  changes  of  run. 
and  grew  a  succession  of  crops. 

The  chief  instructor  in  this  branch  is 
another  wonderful  blind  man,  Captain 
iPierson  Webber,  an  ex-army  man,  who 
lost  his  sight  in  India  nearly  20  years  ago. 
Now  he  is  one  of  the  greatest  poultry  ex- 
perts in  England,  owning  a  big  poultry 
farm  of  his  own  and  holding  the  post  of 
lecturer  to  three  English  County  Coun- 
cils. 

As  a  result  of  Captain  Webber's  in- 
struction, his  latest  pupils  can  do  surpris- 
ing things.  They  can,  for  exampe,  identi- 
fy any  breed  of  fowl,  as  I  saw  for  myself. 
They  would  take  up  'one,  carefully  submit 
the  comb  to  a  minute  examination,  feel- 
ing the  length  and  thickness,  next  doing 
the  same  to  the  foot  of  the  bird;  all  this 
with  a  keen  air  of  concentrated  interest. 
Then  they  would  announce  the  breed,  Or- 
pington, leghorn  or  Sussex,  as  the  case 
might  be,  and  in  very  few  instances  did 
these  blind  Tommies'  judgment  prove  in- 
accurate. 

Life    in    Institutions    Best 

Back  we  came  across  the  lawn,  Pearson 
making  a  beeline  for  the  steps  of  the 
terrace,  a  hundred  yards  away,  and  talk- 
ing volubly  all  the  time  in  answer  to 
questions. 

"We  have  now  105  men  under  our  roof," 
said  he,  "and  52  teachers,  practically  all 
of  them  voluntary  workers.  The  initial 
difficulty  is  to  persuade  the  blinded  sol- 
diers to  come.  They  think  *I  shall  go 
quite  off  my  head  if  I'm  there  among  a 
lot  of  other  blind  men  all  moping  and 
feeling  sorry  for  themselves.'  but,  as  you 
have  seen,  nobody  docs  mope  her*.." 
Copyrighted,  1015.  for  the  PfcV*S3  So&xAw 


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♦  ^   To  23  — 


"V\  j  i/evwb^-r  *TU  i^i5. 


Notables  to  Attend 

Canadian  Club  Banquet 


Private  Stanley  G.  Chambers,  the 
best  known  private  s*oldier  in  the 
world,  will  be  the  guest  of  honor  a1: 
the  annual  banquet  of  the  Canadian 
Club  of  Boston  at  the  Parker  House, 
on  Nov.   18. 

The  Hon.  John  Douglas  Hazen, 
minister  of  marine  and  fisheries  for 
Canada,  will  share  honors  with  Pri- 
vate Chambers,  while  Governor 
Walsh,  Mayor  Curley,  Collector  of 
the  Port  Edmund  Billings  and  Rustom 
Rustomjee,  editor  and  lecturer  of 
Bombay,  India,  will  address  the  gath- 
ering. 

Private  Chambers,  who  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  first  expeditionary  Cana- 
dian forces  to  the  European  war,  is 
known  as  the  soldier  who  lost  his  sight 
in  action  and  regained  It  in  the  midst 
of  terrible  experiences.  The  story  of 
his  adventure  is  a  thrilling  one. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Tenth  Regi- 
ment of  Canada  which,  with  the  Six- 
teenth Regiment,  armed  only  with  ri- 
fles and  supported  by  no  big  guns, 
went  into  action  against  a  superior 
force  of  Germans  entrenched  behind 
machine  guns.  Two  thousand  men  and 
56  officers  were  commanded  to  recover 
four  machine  guns  captured  from  the 
French  by  the  Germans  in  the  "action 
in  the  wood,"  part  of  the  famous  bat- 
tle of  Ypres. 

Of  the  2000  men  who  advanced 
against  the  Germans,  but  160  returned 
with  one  officer— but  they  brought  back 
the  guns  and  are  credited  with  having 
saved    Calais   from    the    foe. 

Private  Chambers  was  in  the  van  of 
the  rush  against  the  Germans  and 
when  they  had  been  routed,  found  him- 
self with  one  companion  far  In  ad- 
vance of  his  comrades.  Their  | 
tion    was     untenable      and*  they    were 


about  to  retreat  when  a  shell  exploded 
close    beside    them. 

The  other  soldier  was  blown  into 
shreds,  and  Chambers  was  covered  with 
earth;  when  he  had  fought  himself  free 
of  the  debris,  he  found  that  he  had  lost 
his  sight,   but  was  otherwise  uninjured. 


The  war  hero  guest  of  Boston,  Private 
Stanley  G.  Chambers. 


He  groped  about  for  hours  and  finally 
heard  the  groans  of  a  wounwed  soldier 
who  had  been  shot  through  the  back 
but  still  possessed  full  consciousness. 
Chambers  crept  to  him  and  they  de- 
cided to  combine  the  wounded  man's 
sight  with  the  blind  man's  legs,  so 
Chambers  took  his  comrade  on  his 
back  and  started  a  long  journey  to  the 
rear,  guided  by  hisvburden. 

For  hours  they  struggled  along 
through  the  fields  upon  which  shells 
were  constantly  falling  and  bursting  all 
around  them.  They  passed  hospitals 
that  were  filled  or  deserted,  but  nowhere 
could  they  be  taken  in,  until  midnight. 
And,  reaching  treatment,  the  wounded 
man  immediately  died;.  -Chambers,  was 
cared  for  and  sent  to  a  hospital  in  Eng- 
land. 

Weeks  afterward,  the  doctors  declared 
him  in  fit  condition  to  make  the  journey 
to  his  home  in  Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
he     was     placed     aboard     the     steamer 


Hesperian,  which  was  torpedoed  by  a 
German  submarine.  Chambers  was 
guided  from  his  cabin  to  a  lifeboat,  but, 
while  being-  lowered  an  accident  oc- 
curred, which  overturned  the  boat, 
throwing  the  passengers  into  the  water 
But  one  of  the  entire  boatload  was 
saved;   that  one  was  Chambers. 

He  went  far  under  the  water  but  up- 
on rising  to  the  surface  found  that  he 
could  see  with  one  eye.  A  rope  was 
thrown  to  him  which  he  caught  only 
to  have  his  grip  broken  by  a  drowning 
man  who  clung  to  him.  When  he  had 
loosened  the  grip  of  the  other  man, 
he  again  swam  to  the  surface  and  saw 
another  rope  which  he  seized,  but  found 
it  to  be  the  log-rope  attached  to  the 
sinking  ship.  To  save  himself  from 
being  drawn  under,  he  dropped  the  line 
and  looked  around  for  something  to 
hold  him  up.  He  saw  a  small  boat 
some  distance  away  and  after  a  long 
swim  reached  it.  He  was  returned  to 
England  and  took  passage  on  another 
steamer. 

Arriving  home  he  was  given  a  re- 
ception seldom  equalled  in  Canada.  The 
whole  town  turned  out  to  do  htm 
honor;  Premier  Borden  telegraphed  him 
congratulations  upon  his  safe  return 
home  and  the  fame  of  the  brave  Cham- 
bers was  spread  throughout  the  Domiln- 
ion.  The  soldier's  sight  has  now  re 
turned  to  both  eyes  and  In  .  a  few 
months  he  will  be  as  good  as  nevr4 


f\e|wL.L 


FOR       BLINDED       SOLDIEES 

AMERICAN'S    HOME    IN    LONDON 


C.  ARTHUR  PEARSON  AT  THE  HEAD 


Famous  Publisher,  Himself  Now  Sight- 
less, Directs  Work  and  Train- 
ing of  War's  Unfortunates 


[Copyright,  1915,  by  Curtis  Brown.] 
Correspondence  of  The  Republican1. 

London,  October  28,  1915 
When    Otto    Kahn,    the    American   mill- 
ionaire,   visits    "St    Durstan's,"    his    beau- 
tiful home  in  Re-gent's  Park,  nowadays  he 
must  find  it  hard  indeed  to  recognize  the 
wonderful  mansion  that  was  built  by  the 
third  marquis  of  Hertford,  the  original  of 
the  wicked  Lord  Steyne,  in  "Vanity  Fair.'' 
For  what  was  the   wonderful  ballroom, 
with    its    lofty    walls    of    red,    white    and 
gold,   is   now    filled   with   desks,    at  which 
young  men  with  shades  or  bandages  over 
their  eyes  and  with  quiet  women  sitting  be- 
side  them,    are    working    typewriters    and 
pounding,  away    at    oth?r   queer   little   ma- 
chines that  look  like  typewriters  and  yet 
obviously    aren't.    In    the    former    library 
another     group     of     young     fellows     ire 
grouped   around  a   skeleton   and  obviously 
studying  anatomy      In  what  was  the  con- 
servatory   plants    worth    a    king's    ransom 
have  given  way  r.c  benches  and  carpenter's 
tables,   at  which   bootmaking,  joinery  and 
basket  and  matmaking  are  in  active  prog- 
ress, while  in  part  of  the  heautiful  grounds 
sacred    hitherto    to    tennis,    croquet    and — 
no  doubt— to  polite  philandering,  the  hum- 
ble occupation  of  poultry  keeping  is  quite 
evidently  going  on. 

At  first  sight  there  is  nothing  particu- 
larly surprising  in  this  metamorphosis  of 
one  of  the  most  renowned  mansions  and 
most  beautiful  estates  in  the  London  dis- 
trict, for,  with  f-uch  an  endless  amount  of 
war    work    going    on    everywhere,    stately 


mansions  all  over  the  metropolis  are  being 
used  for  that  purpose.  Even  the  most 
casual  observer,  however,  could  not  fail 
to  recognize  that  the  men,  all  young,  vig- 
orous looking,  and  apparently  light-hearted 
that  one  sees  doing  stunts  here  are  not 
ordinary  -war  workers,  and  at  the  second 
glance  one  sees  that  they  are  all  blind, 
and  that  so,  too,  are  those  who  are  in- 
structing them. 

These  men  arc  one  and  all  British  ool- 
diers  and  sailors  who  have  been  blinded 
in  battle,  some  by  bullets,  some  through 
explosions  and  some  through  pure  shock, 
and  here  at  "St  Dunstan's  hostel,"  as 
the  American  roillionaire's  mansion  has 
been  renamed,  they  are  being  taught  trades 
that  will  enable  them  hereafter  to  earn 
their  own  living.  More  than  that,  in  fact! 
They  are  being  taught,  as  the  phrase  there 
goes,  "how  to  be  Wind,"  which  means,  in 
a  word,  how  to  manage  best  and  be  at 
least  fairly  happy  in  spite  of  their  terrible 
affliction,  perhaps  the  worst  that  can  hap- 
pen to  one. 

C  Arthur  Pearson 

The  man  who  started  this  hostel,  and 
who  carries  it  on  with  characteristic 
energy  and  wonderful  cheerfulness,  is  a 
blind  man,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  of 
his  time.  He  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  the 
ex-publisher,  whose  story  is  well  known. 
Beginning  as  an  ordinary  clerk  in  the 
famous  house  of  Newnes,  which  issues  the 
Strand  magazine,  Tit-Bits  and  so  many 
other  well-known  publications,  he  rapidly 
worked  himself  up  to  the  position  of  its 
manager,  which  he  occupied  for  several 
years.  Then  he  started  out  on  his  own 
hook,  launched  Pearson's  Weekly,  and 
made  a  success  of  it  by  means  of  the 
"missing  word  contest,"  started  Pearson's 
magazine  and  made  a  success  of  it,  and 
from  that  went  on  until  a  few  years  ago 
he  was  one  of  the  most  successful  and 
powerful  men  in  the  publishing  world  of 
London,  owner  of  the  Daily  Express  and 
the  famous  Standard,  as  well  as  of  several 
provincial  papers,  and  one  of  the  strongest 
supporters  in  England  of  the  late  Joseph 
Chamberlain  and  his  tariff  reform  policy. 
Report  says  that  he  more  than  once  de- 
clined the  offer  of  a  proud  title. 

And  then  he  lost  his  sight!  Lost  it  first 
by  degrees  and  then  outright.  It  was  a 
''bludgeoning  of  chance"  that  would  have 
crushed  most  men,  but  not  Arthur  Pear- 
son. Always  a  philanthropist  (his  "fresh 
air  fund"  for  poor  children  has  brought 
happiness  into  thousands  of  wretched  lit- 
tle lives),  instead  of  sitting  down  and  la- 
menting his  hard  fate,  he  devoted  himself 
instead  to  effort  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of 
others  afflicted  like  himself.  Into  tin- 
tails  of  what  he  has  accomplished  in  that 
direction  one  need  not  go,  but  the  national 
institute  for  the  blind,  of  which  he  is  now 
president,    is    one    tangible    result    of    his 


efforts.  When  the  war  broke  out,  Pearson 
devoted  himself  to  relief  work.  The  prince 
of  Wales's  fund,  which  has  collected  some- 
thing like  $30,000,000,  was  his  creation. 
When  men  began  coming  home  blinded 
from  the  front,  Pearson  saw  for  himself 
a  new  field  of  usefulness.  These  brave 
fellows,  who  believed  that  life  was  ended 
for  them,  must  be  shewn  that  they  could 
still  be  useful  citizens;  that  they  couid 
even  be  fairly  happy.  With  the  aid  of 
the  British  lied  Cross  society  and  the  or- 
der of  St  John  of  Jerusalem,  Pearson 
started  a  temporary  home  for  them,  but 
he  wanted  one  that  would  be  ideal.  So 
he  went  to  his  friend,  Otto  Kuhn,  of  the 
famous  firm  of  Kuhn.  Loeb  &  Co,  and 
coolly  asked  for  the  loan  of  "St  Dun- 
stan's,"  his  beautiful  London  home,  for 
this  purpose,  and  (all  honor  to  the  Amer- 
ican) he  got  it. 

One  of   tlie   Choicest   Residences  ' 

This  famous  mansion,  which  has  passed 
through  many  hands  since  the  jmarquis  of 
Hertford  built  it,  nearly  a  hundred  years 
ago,  and  which  Otto  Kuhn  has  owned  for 
upward  of  13  years,  is  undeniably  one  of 
the  choicest  residences  in  or  about  London. 
It  is  surrounded  by  an  estate  of  15  acres, 
which  adjoins  (and  formerly  was  part  of) 
Regent's  Park,  one  of  the  loveliest  and 
"wildest"  of  London's  renowned  open 
spaces,  and  which  includes  a  beautiful 
lake.  Looking  from  the  picturesque  "ter- 
race." in  the  rear  of  the  mansion,  one 
might  easily  imagine  one's  self  in  the  heart 
of  the  country,  for  not  one  single  trace  of 
London  can  be  seen,  nothing  but  undulat- 
ing lawn,  trees  and  water! 

Truly  an  almost  ideal  temporary  home 
for  sightless  victims  of  war.  And  what 
unbelievable  things  they  learn  here,  to  be 
sure!  To  be  divers  for  one  thing,  can  you 
credit  it? — as  well  as  to  be  masseurs  (hence 
the  anatomy  class),  telephone  operators, 
shorthand  writers  and  typists,  poultry  ex- 
perts, bootmakers,  carpenters,  basket- 
makers  iiuti  a  dozen  other  things.  This, 
too,  almost  entirely  from  blind  teachers— 
for,  as  Pearson  himself  pithily  put  it,  "If 
you,  as  a  man  with  sight,  tell  one  of  these 
chaps  to  'buck  up,'  because  he  can  learn 
carpentry,  say,  quite  easily,  he  is  apt  to 
think,  'Go  to  the  devil!  What  do  you 
know  about  it?'  But  if  a  blind  man  who 
is  an  expert  carpenter  tells  him  the  same 
thing,  he  is  the  more  likely  to  believe  it, 
and  to  pitch  in  with  courage  and  en- 
thusiasm.*' 

Meanwhile,  in  their  leisure  moments, 
these  blind  "Tommies"  and  "Jacks"  learn 
to  row  on  the  lake  in  the  grounds  and 
become  expert  oarsmen,  as  the  exploits  of 
the  "St  Dunstans"  crack  "four"  proves. 
In  races  on  the  Thames  at  Putney,  dur- 
ing the  past  summer,  they  bested  several 
blind    crews    from   other   institutions,   and 


so  recently  as  on  Thursday  last,  over  the 
same  course,  they  met  a  "sighted"  crew 
from  Emmanuel  college  and  beat  them  de- 
cisively! "By  four  lengths,"  declared  one 
of  the  pretty  volunteer  helpers  at  "St 
Dunstan's,"  who  described  the  races  to 
.  the  writer.  "We  say  by  six  lengths,  but 
they  dispute  that.  Still  it  was  a  fine  win 
for  our  fellows,  and  mighty  proud  they 
were!"  Of  course,  the  "cox"  in  such  cases 
has  to  be  a  "sighted"  person.  Rowing, 
it  seems,  is  the  form  of  recreation  which 
these  blind  soldiers  like  best,  because  it 
is  the  only  one  in  which  they  can  feel  that 
they  are  conducting  other  people,  instead 
of  being  conducted  by  them. 

Perhaps  the  best  way  of  "visualizing" 
"St  Dunstan's"  for  you  will  be  to  describe 
how  it  was  shown  me  by  the  genius  of  it 
all,  C.  Arthur  Pearson  himself.  He  ,-s 
there,  among  his  "boys,"  as  he  calls  them, 
practically  all  the  time,  and  spends  the 
rest  in  visiting  the  hospitals,  interviewing 
blinded  men  there,  and  putting  hope  into 
them  by  telling  them  what  can  be  done 
for  them  at  the  house  that  was  built  by 
the  famous  and  naughty  nobleman  who 
was  one  of  the  original  creators  of  the  cele- 
brated "Wallace  collection,"  and  whom 
Thackeray  immortalized.  Arrived  at  "St 
Dunstan's,"  and  awaiting  one's  turn  to  be 
received  by  its  energetic  head,  one  sees 
doors  open  and  men  emerge  who  obviously 
are  blind,  and  yet  who  go  straight  ahead 
on  their  way  to  one  part  of  the  building 
or  another  as  if  in  full  possession  of  their 
sight.  And  then  one  notices  that,  on  the 
floor  between  the  doorways,  are  paths  of 
green  baize,  and  has  it  explained  that  these 
are  placed  there  so  as  to  guide  the  blind 
man.  So  Ion-  aa  they  are  on  the  baize 
path  the  latter  know  exactly  where  they 
are  going;  if  they  step  off  they  realize  that 
they  have  missed  their  way,  and  the  im- 
mediate thing  to  do  is  to  step  on  again. 
Personally  Conducted 

But  th  -re  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson  coming 
to  greet  his  caller,  and  one  rises  to  re- 
turn his  greeting  with  curiosity  mingled 
with  sympathy.  I  had  not  seen  him  for 
10  years.  Then  be  was  most  active.  He 
has  changed  little,  save  for  his  dark  eyes, 
which  are  obvicusly  sightless.  Tall  and 
well  built,  and,  quite  evidently,  as  full  of 
"ginger"  as  ever,  the  only  other  sign  of 
hi?  affliction  is  the  fact  that  when  he 
extends  his  hand  to  grasp  yours,  he  puts 
it  out,  nut  straight,  but  far  to  the  side 
and  too  high  up,  making  it  necessary  for 
ycu  to  do   ditto. 

"Now  let  me  take  you  round,"  he  says, 
and  with  quick  strides  leads  the  way 
(along  a  baize  path)  into  the  former  ball- 
room, where  some  20  or  30  sightless  ex- 
warriors  are  studying  Braille  and  reading 


C.     ARTHUR    PEARSON     (RIGHT) 

Famous  ex-Publisher,  low  Blind,  With  One  of  the  Blind  Soldier  Guests  of 
"St  Dunstan's  Hostel,"  Which  is  Directed  by  Mr  Pearson 


LU 


it,  working  t:>  pewriters  and  tapping  at  the 

other  queer  little  machines  that  have  been 
mentioned.  There  prove  to  be  shorthand 
machines,  which  write  the  signs,  in  Braille, 
on  a  thin  paper  tape.  This  the  operator 
reads,  between  his  fingers,  and  then  tran- 
scribes the  contents  on  a  special  Braille 
typewriter.  "Those  machines  are  neces- 
sary," said  Pearson,  "because  no  blind  per- 
son can  write  accurately  by  hand.  My 
own  writing  has  now  becume  next  to  in- 
decipherable. Soon  it  will  have  become 
quite  so.  But,  with  the  aid  of  these  ma- 
chines, there  is  nothing  to  prevent  any  of 
these  chaps  from  becoming  expert  stenog- 
raphers and  typewriters. 

"Now  let's  go  out  into  the  grounds,*'  he 
continued,  and  led  the  way  through  a 
doorway  and  out  upon  the  terrace,  at  the 
front  of  which  was  a  flight  of  some  four 
or  five  stone  stairs.  I  noticed  that  we 
were  now  on  a  slate  path,  which,  out  of 
doors,  takes  the  place  of  the  baize  ones 
within.  Pearson  was  ihead,  just  at  the 
top  of  the  stairs.  Involuntarily  I  took  his 
arm,  but  he  released  himself  gently. 

"I'm  quite  all  right,"  he  laughed,  and 
then  I  noticed  that  just  above  the  first 
step  and  under  the  last  there  were  wooden 
boards.  "A  board  means  danger,"  he  ex- 
plained. "It  tells  me,  for  example,  that 
I  am  at  the  top  of  the  stairs  and  will 
tell  me  when  I  am  at  the  bottom."  So 
he  went  down  with  brisk  steps,  and  then 
set  off  once  more,  following  the  slate  path 
along  the  graved.  Suddenly,  with  unerring 
sense  of  position,  he  stopped.  "We  werq 
in  front  of  an  ancient-looking  clock,  set 
in  the  side  of  the  mansion.  Above  it  was 
a  huge  bell,  on  either  side  of  which  were 
two  giant  figures,  armed  with  hammers 
which,  run  by  mechanism,  strike  the  hours. 

"That  is  the  thing,"  said  Pearson,  point- 
ing, just  as  if  he  could  see  it,  "from  which 
this  house  takes  its  name.  Those  figures 
and  the  clock  once  were  in  the  steeple  of 
the  old  city  church  of  St  Dunstan's-in-the- 
West,  and  the  marquis  of  Hertford,  the 
'Lord  Steyne'  of  'Vanity  Fair,'  when  ho 
was  a  little  boy,  used  to  be  taken  down  by 
his  nurse  to  see  them.  He  made  up  his 
mind  then,  they  say,  that  when  he  grow 
up  and  had  a  house  of  his  own  he  would 
have  those  figures  if  they  could  be  got, 
and  have  them  he  did,  as  you  see.  When, 
in  1825,  the  old  Regent's  Park  was  par- 
celed out.  the  marquis  bought  these  15 
acres  and  erected  this  house,  and  when 
later  on  it  was  decided  to  remove  those 
historic  figures  and  the  clock  from  the 
church,  he  bid  them  in,  set  them  up  here, 
and  thereafter  called  his  abode  'St  Dun- 
stan's'." 

NoTf   a    Worlfshop 

On  our  way  to  the  conservatory,  which 
is  now  a  workshop,  we  were  now  passing 


through  a  sort  of  alley-way,  between  shrub- 
bery, with  a  railing  on  each  side.  On  this, 
I  noticed,  my  guide  kept  one  hand,  and, 
directly  we  reached  the  end,  where  several 
paths  branched  off,  he  turned  sharply  to 
the  right.  "Do  you  notice,"  he  said,  "just 
before  we  come  to  the  end  of  this  railing 
my  hand  meets  a  little  raised  button? 
That  telis  me  that  I  must  turn  to  the 
right!"     And  so  on  we  went. 

In  the  conservatory  we  saw  bliud  sol- 
dier boys  making  all  sorts  of  things  under 
the  direction  of  blind  experts.  One  of  the 
men  who,  previous  to  the  war,  had  been 
a  gamekeeper  near  Nottingham,  was  just 
finishing  a  wooden  "foster-mother"  to  oe 
used  in  the  hennery,  others  were  making 
"telescopic  tables/"  stools  and  hatracks, 
and  beautiful  indeed  some  of  the  work 
was.  Still  others  were  weaving  mats, 
busy  with  basketwork,  repairing  shoes. 
.Most  of  them  were  whistling — one  sightless 
boy.  who.  seated  on  the  floor,  was  fabri- 
cating a  basket,  being  encaged  in  pouring 
out,  "When  the  boys  come  home,"  with 
all  the  strength  of  his  lungs.  I  talked 
with  several  of  them,  and  they  all  seemed 
interested  in  theii  work  and  hopeful  for 
the  future.  Pearson  had  a  friendly  Avord 
and  a  grasp  of  the  arm  for  each  of  them 
and  knew  them  all  by  their  names. 

Next  we  visited  the  poultry  farm  and 
the  market  garden,  and  finally  what  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  the 
place,— the  last  two  combined.  Here,  by 
a  most  ingenious  arrangement  of  wired  in- 
cisures radiating  from  the  four  walls  of 
the  chicken  house,  with  a  door  in  each 
wall,  the  blind  man  learns  to  rear  his 
chickens  with  orderly  changes  of  run,  and 
grow  a  succession  of  crops.  The  chief  in- 
structor in  this  branch  is  another  wonder- 
ful blind  man.  Capt  Pierson  Webber,  an 
ex-army  man  who  lost  his  sisrht  in  India 
nearly  20  years  ago.  Now  he  is  one  of 
the  greatest  poultry  experts  in  England, 
owning  a  big  poultry  farm  of  his  own  and 
holding  the  post  of  lecturer  to  three  Eng- 
lish county  councils. 

As  a  result  of  Capt  Webber's  instruc- 
tion, his  latest  pupils  can  do  surprising 
things.  They  can,  for  example,  identify 
any  breed  of  fowl,  as  I  saw  for  myself. 
They  would  take  up  one,  carefully  submit 
the  comb  to  a  minute  examination,  feeling 
the  length  and  thickness,  next  doing  the 
same  to  the  foot  of  the  bird,  all  this  with 
a  keen  air  of  concentrated  interest.  Then 
they  would  announce  the  breed,  Orpington, 
Leghorn  or  Sussex,  as  the  case  might  be, 
and  in  very  few  instances  did  these  blind 
Tommies'  judgment  prove  inaccurate. 

Back  we  came  across  the  lawn,  Pearson 
making  a  beeline  for  the  steps  of  the  ter- 
race, a  hundred  yards  away,  and  talking 
volubly    all    the    time    in    answer   to    ques- 


tions.  "We  have  now  105  men  under  our 
roof,"  said  he,  "and  52  teachers,  prac- 
tically all  of  them  voluntary  workers. 
The  initial  difficulty  U  to  persuade  the 
blinded  soldiers  to  come.  They  think,  *I 
shall  go  quite  off  my  head  if  I'm  there 
among  a  lot  of  other  blind  men  all  moping 
and  feeling  sorry  for  themselves,'  but,  as 
you've  seen,  nobody  does  mope  here.  In 
reality  it  is  the  worst  possible  thing  for 
a  newly-made  blind  man  to  be  among  see- 
ing relatives,  as  they  are  always  sympa- 
thizing with  Mm  and  making  him  still 
more  dejected.  Here  we  are  air  blind  to- 
gether, and  all  busy  and  happy.  We  all 
have  to  fall  downstairs  and  bump  into 
each  other  until  we  know  the  rules  of  the 
paths  and  look  silly  till  we  learn  our  par- 
ticular job,  and  no  one  is  any  better  or  any 
worse  than  anybody  else! 

A   Good  Day's  Work 

"The  men  work  four  hours  a  day,"  he 
went  on,  "two  in  the  morning  and  two  in 
the  afternoon,  for  there  is  no  use  in  driv- 
ing a  blind  man  too  hard  unless  he  him- 
peif  wants  to  work  longer,  as  many  of 
our  fellows  do.  The  usual  course  here  *.s 
about  six  months,  and  after  that  we  set 
them  up  in  whatever  trade  they  have 
learned.  No,  there  is  no  hunting  for 
berths!  For  the  most  part  it  is  home 
work  which  we  teach  them,  and  after  they 
leave  here  it  is  merely  a  case  of  supplying 
them  with  sufficient  work  to  do.  And, 
while  they  arc  here,  besides  just  about 
enough  work,  they  have  plenty  of  amuse- 
ment, games,  concerts,  and  many  other 
kinds  of  entertainment,  besides  which  we 
have  a  special  'noise  room'  filled  with 
gramophones  and  other  musical  instru- 
ments, where  they  can  go  and  kick  up  as 
much  of  a  row  as  they  like.  We  have 
been  going  now  about  a  year,  and  the 
public  has  helped  us  magnificently.  AH 
kinds  of  famous  folk  come  to  visit  and 
amuse  us,  too,  including  the  king  and 
queen,  and  Queen  Alexandra  and  the 
prince  of  Wales,  who  came  to  see  us  tho 
jast  time  he  was  home  from  the  front  on 
leave." 

"How  can  you  teach  a  blind  man  to  be 
a  diver?''  I  asked,  knowing  that  this  was 
included  in  the  curriculum.  "As  easily 
as  anything/'  was  the  prompt  reply.  "Aft- 
er all,  what  is  a  diver  but  a  blind  man? 
The  diver  who  is  building  breakwaters 
and  piers  works  in  the  dark,  for,  even  if 
the  water  is  clear,  his  work  disturbs  it, 
and  makes  it  impossible  for  him  to  see 
anything  through  it  All  a  blind  work- 
man needs  for  the  work  really  is  to  learn 
to  use  the  telephone  and  to  give  the  right 
number  of  tugs  at  the  communicating  rope. 
And  dicing  is  one  of  the  best-paid  of  pro- 
fessions!" 


1 


,  U>V 


- 


'OTV    ,  y  .  ,        ID 


YXfONDERFUL  Work  for  British  Soldiers 
v  *  and  Sailors  Who  Have  Lost  Their  Sight 
in  Battle  Is  Being  Carried  on  at 
"St.  Dunstan's,"  One  of  the  Finest 
Residences  in  London, 
Now  the  Property  of  Otto  Kahn, 
the  American  Millionaire- 
-Men  Are  Taught  to  Be  Stenographers, 
Carpenters,  Poultry  Keepers,  Masseurs  and 
Even  Divers — Founder  and  Genius  of 
the  Place  Is  C.  Arthur  Pearson, 
the  Blind  ex-Publisher- 
-A  Crew  of  Expert  Blind  Oarsmen. 


Special  Correspondence  of  The  Star. 

LONDON,  October  28,  1915. 
>HEN  Otto  Kahn,  the  Ameri- 
can millionaire,  visits  St. 
Dunstan's,  his  beautiful 
home  in  Regent's  Park,  now- 
adays, he  must  find  it  hard,  indeed,  to 
recognize  the  wonderful  mansion  that 
was  built  by  the  third  Marquis_  of 
Hertford,  original  of  the  wicked  Lord 
Steyne  in   "Vanity  Fair." 

For  what  was  the  wonderful  ball- 
room, with  its  lofty  walls  of  red,  white 
and  gold,  is  now  filled  with  desks,  at 
which  young  men  with  shades  or  band- 
ages over  their  eyes  and  with  quiet 
women  sitting  beside  them  are  work- 
ing typewriters  and  pounding  away  at 
other  queer  little  machines  that  look 
like  typewriters  and  yet  obviously 
are  not.  In  the  former  library  another 
group  of  young  fellows  are  sitting 
around  a  skeleton  and  obviously  study- 
ing anatomy.  In  what  was  the  con- 
servatory plants  worth  a  king's  ransom 
have  given  way  to  benches  and  car- 
penters' tables,  at  which  bootmaking, 
joinery  and  basket  and  mat  making 
are  in  active  progress,  while  in  part 
of  the  beautiful  grounds,  sacred  hith- 
erto to  tennis,  croquet  and,  no  doubt, 
to  polite  philandering,  the  humble  oc- 
cupation of  poultry  keeping  is  quite 
evidently  going  on. 

At  first.  6ight  there  is  nothing  par- 
ticularly surprising  in  this  metamor- 
phosis of  one  of  the  most  snowned 
mansions  and  most  beautiful  98  ates  in 
the  London  district,  for,  wit1  uch  an 
endless  amount  of  war  work  ^oing  on 
everywhere,  stately  mansions  all  over 
the  metropolis  are  being  used  for  that 
purpose.  Even  the  most  casual  ob- 
server, however,  could  not  fail  to  rec- 
ognize that  the  men,  all  young,  vig- 
orous looking  and  apparently  light- 
hearted,  that  one  sees  doing  stunts 
here  are  not  ordinary  war  workers, 
and  at  the  second  glance  one  sees  that 
they  are  all  blind,  and  that  so,  too, 
are  those  who  are  instructing   them. 

These  men  are  one  and  all  British 
soldiers  and  sailors  who  1  i  ve  been 
blinded  in  battle,  some  by  burets,  some 
through  explosions  and  some  through 
pure  shock,  and  here  at  "St.  Dunstan's 
Hostel,"  as  the  American  millionaire's 
mansion  has  been  renamed,  they  are 
being  taught  trades  that  will  enable 
them  hereafter  to  earn  their  own  liv- 
ing. More  than  that,  in  fact!  Thsy  are 
being  taught,  as  the  phrase  there  goes, 
"how  to  bo  blind,"  wh'ch  means,  in  a 
word,    how    to   manage   best   and    be   at 


least  fairly  happy  In  spite  of  their  ter- 
rible affliction,  perhaps  the  worst  that 
can  happen  to  one. 

The  man  who  started  this  hostel  and 
who  carries  it  on  with  characteristic 
energy  and  wonderful  cheerfulness  is 
a  blind  man,  one  of  the  most  wonder- 
ful of  his  time.  He  is  C.  Arthur  Pear- 
son, the  ex-publisher,  whose  story  is 
well  known.  Beginning  as  an  ordinary 
clerk  in  the  famous  house  of  Newnes, 
which  issues  many  well  known  pub- 
lications, he  rapidly  worked  himself  up 
to  the  position  of  its  manager,  which 
he  occupied  for  several  3rears.  Then  he 
started  out  on  his  own  hook,  launched 
a  weekly  and  made  a  success  of  it  by 
means  of  the  "missing  word  contest," 
started  a  monthly  and  made  a  success 
of  it,  and  from  that  went  on  until  a 
few  years  ago  he  was  one  of  the  most 
successful  and  powerful  men  in  the 
publishing  world  of  London,  owner  of  the 
Daily  Express  and  the  Standard,  as  well 
as  of  several  provincial  papers,  and  one 
of  the  strongest  supporters  in  England 
of  the  late  Joseph  Chamberlain  and  his 
tariff  reform  policy.  Report  savs  that 
he  more  than  once  declined  the  offer  of  a 
proud  title.  And  then  he  lost  his  sight ! 
Lost  it  first  by  degrees  and  then  outright. 
It  was  a  "bludgeoning  of  chance"  that 
would  have  crushed  most  men,  but  not 
Arthur  Pearson. 

*  * 
Always  a  philanthropist  (his  "fresh  air 
fund"  for  poor  children  has  brought  hap- 
piness into  thousands  of  wretched  little 
lives),  instead  of  sitting  down  and  lament- 
ing his  hard  fate,  he  devoted  himself  in- 
stead i  to  efforts  to  ameliorate  the  lot  of 
others  afflicted  like  himself.  Into  the  de- 
tails of  what  he  has  accomplished  in  that 
direction  one  need  not  go,  but  the  Nation- 
al Institute  for  the  Blind,  of  which  he  is 
now  president,  is  one  tangible  result  of 
his  efforts.  When  the  war  broke  out 
Pearson  devoted  himself  to  relief  work. 
The  Prince  of  Wales'  fund,  which  has 
collected  something  like  $30,000,000,  was 
his  creation.  When  men  began  coming 
home  blinded  from  the  front,  Pearson  saw 
for  himself  a  new  field  of  usefulness. 
These  brave  fellows,  who  believed  that 
life  was  ended  for  them,  must  be  shown 
that  they  could  still  be  useful  citizens; 
that  they  could  even  be  fairly  happy. 

With  the  aid  of  the  British  Red  Crofts 
Society  and  the  Order  of  St.  John  t  f 
Jerusalem,  Pearson  started  a  temporar. 
home  for  them,  but  he  wanted  one 
that  would  be  ideal.  So  he  went  to 
his  friend  Otto  Kahn,  of  the  famous 
firm  of  Kuhn,  Loeb  &  Co.,  and  coolly 
asked  for  the  loan  of  St.  Dunstan's, 
his  beautiful  London  home,  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  (all  honor  to  the  American) 
got  it. 

This  famous  mansion,  which  has 
passed  through  many  hands  sines  the 
Marquis  of  Hertford  built  it,  nearly  a 
hundred  years  ago,  and  which  Otto 
Kahn    has   owned    for    upward    of  thir- 


M 


teen  years,  is  undeniably  one  of  the 
choicest  residences  in  or  about  London- 
It  is  surrounded  by  an  estate  of  fifteen 
acres  which  adjoins  and  formerly  was 
part  of  Regent's  Park,  one  of  the 
loveliest  and  "wildest"  of  London's  re- 
nowned open  spaces  and  which  in- 
cludes a  beautiful  lake.  Looking  from 
the  picturesque  "terrace,"  In  the  rear 
of  the  mansion,  one  might  easily  im- 
agine one's  self  in  the  heart  of  the  coun- 
try, for  not  one  single  trace  of  Lon- 
don can  be  seen,  nothing  but  undulat- 
ing   lawn,    trees    and    water. 

Truly  an  almost  ideal  temporary 
home  for  sightless  victims  of  war.  And 
what  unbelievable  things  they  learn 
here,  to  be  sure!  To  be  divers  for 
one  thing — can  you  credit  It? — as  well 
as  to  be  masseurs  (hence  the  anatomy 
class),  telephone  operators,  shorthand 
writers  and  typists,  poultry  experts, 
bootmakers,  carpenters,  basket  mak- 
ers and  a  dozen  other  things.  This, 
too,  almost  entirely  from  blind  teach- 
ers— for,  as  Pearson  himself  pithily 
put  it:  "If  you,  as  a  man  with  sight, 
tell  one  of  these  chaps  to  'buck  up,' 
because  he  can  learn  carpentry,  say, 
quite  easily,  he  is  apt  to  think,  'Go  to 
the  dickens!  "What  do  you  know  about 
it?'  But  4f  a  blind  man  who  is  an 
expert  carpenter  tells  him  the  same 
thing,  he  is  the  more  likely  to  believe 
it,  and  to  pitch  In  with  courage  and 
enthusiasm." 

Meanwhile,  In  their  leisure  moments, 
these  blind  "Tommies"  and  "Jacks" 
learn  to  row  on  the  lake  in  the 
grounds  and  become  expert  oarsmen,  as 
the  exploits  of  the  St.  Dunstan's 
crack  "four"  prove.  In  races  on  the 
Thames  at  Putney,  during  the  past 
summer,  they  bested  several  blind 
crews  from  other  institutions,  and  so 
recently  as  Thursday  last,  over  the 
same  course,  they  met  a  "sighted" 
crew  from  Emmanuel  College  and  beat 
it  decisively. 

"By  four  lengths,"  declared  one  of  the 
pretty  volunteer  helpers  at  St.  Dun- 
stan's, who  described  the  races  to  the 
writer.  "We  say  by  six  lengths,  hut 
they  dispute  that.  Still  it  was  a  fine 
win  for  our  fellows  and  mighty  proud 
they  were." 

Of  course,  the  "cox"  In  such  cases 
has  to  be  a  "sighted"  person.  Rowing,  it 
seems,  is  the  form  of  recreation  which 
these  blind  soldiers  like  best,  because  it 
is  the  only  one  in  which  they  can  feel 
that  they  are  conducting  other  people,  in- 
stead of  being  conducted  by  them. 

Perhaps  the  best  way  of  "visualizing" 
St.  Dunstan's  for  you  will  be  to  describe 
how  it  was  shown  to  the  writer  by  the 
genius  of  it  all,  C.  Arthur  Pearson  him- 
self. He  is  there,  among  his  "boys,"  as 
he  calls  them,  practically  all  the  time, 
and   spends    the   rest   in   visiting  the   hod-  I 


pitals,  interviewing  blinded  men  there, 
and  putting  hope  into  them  by  telling 
them  what  can  be  done  for  them  at  the 
house  that  was  built  by  the  famous  and 
naughty  nobleman  who  was  one  of  the 
original  creators  of  the  celebrated  "Wal- 
lace collection,"  and  whom  Thackeray  im- 
mortalized. 

Arrived  at  St4  Dunstan's,  and  awaiting 
one's  turn  to  be  received  by  its  energetic 
head,  one  sees  doors  open  and  men  emerge 
who  obviously  are  blind,  and  yet  who  go 
straight  ahe^d  on  their  way  to  one  part 
of  the  building  or  another  as  if  In  full 
possession  of  their  sight.  And  then  one 
notices  that  on  the  floor  between  the 
doorways  are  paths  of  green  baize,  and 
has  it  explained  that  these  are  placed 
there  so  as  to  guide  the  blind  men. 

So  long  as  they  are  on  the  baize  path 
the  latter  know  exactly  whene  they  are 
going;  if  they  step  off  they  realize  that 
they  have  missed  their  way,  and  the 
immediate  thing  to  do  is  to  step  on 
again. 

But  here  Is  C.  Arthur  Pearson  coming 
to  greet  his  caller,  and  one  rises  to  re- 
turn his  greeting  with  curiosity,  mingled 
with  sympathy.  The  writer  had  not  seen 
him  for  ten  years.  Then  he  was  most 
active.  He  has  changed  little,  save  for 
his  dark  eyes,  which  are  obviously  sight- 
less. Tall  and  well  built,  and,  quite  evi- 
dently, as  full  of  "ginger"  as  ev9r,  th^ 
only  other  sign  of  his  affliction  is  the 
fact  that  when  he  extends  his  hand  to 
grasp  yours  he  puts  it  out,  not  straight, 
but  far  to  the  side,  and  too  high  up,  mak- 
ing it  necessary  for  you  to  do  the  same. 

*  / 

"Now  let  me  take  you  round,"  he  says, 
and  with  quick  strides  leads  the  way  along 
a  baize  path  into  the  former  ballroom, 
where  some  twenty  or  thirty  sightless  ex- 
warriors  are  studying  Braille  and  read- 
ing it,  working  typewriters  and  tapping 
at  the  other  queer  little  machines  that 
have  been  mentioned.  These  prove  to  be 
shorthand  machines,  which  write  the 
signs,  in  Braille,  on  a  thin  paper  tape. 
This  the  operator  reads,  between  his 
fingers,  and  then  transcribes  the  con- 
tents on   a  special   Braille  typewriter. 

"These  machines  are  necessary,"  said 
Pearson,  "because  no  blind  person  can 
write  accurately  by  hand.  My  own  writ- 
ing has  now  become  next  to  Indecipher- 
able. Soon  it  will  have  become  quite  so. 
But.  with  the  aid  of  these  machmes,  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  any  of  th«se  chaps 
from  becoming  expert  stenographers  and 
tynewriters. 

"Niw,  let's  eo  out  into  the  grounds."  he 
continued,  and  led  the  way  through  a 
doorway  and  out  upon  the  terrace,  at  the 
front  of  which  was  a  fMcrht  of  some  four 
or  five  stone  stairs.  The  writer  notf<-*»d 
that  he  was   now   on   a  slate   path,   wh^ch 


THE    FAMOUS    CLOCK    OF    "ST.    DtnVSTAWS." 
3Vow  mounted,  with  its  quaint  figures,  in  the  wall  of  the  mansion  which  is  name 
after  it*  this  aged  timepiece  was  formerly  in  the  steeple  of  the  old  Londc 
church  of  St.  Dunstan's-in-the-West. 


I 


ill         "m"';,: 


FOUNDER    OF    "ST.    DUNSTAN'S     HOSTEL,"    ON    RIGHT. 
C.  Arthur  Pearson,  the  ex-publisher,  blind  himself,  now  devotes  his  life  to  work 
for   others   similarly   afflicted.      The   photograph   shows   him   with   one  of   his 
blind  soldier  guests. 


^ut  of  rfoors  takes  the  plax^e  of  the  baize 
door  In  each  wall,  the  blind  man  learns 
to  rear  his  chickens  with  orderly 
changes  of  run,  and  grow  a  succession 
of  crops.  The  chief  instructor  in  this 
branch  is  another  wonderful  blind  man, 
Capt.  Pierson  "Webber,  an  ex-army  man 
who  lost  his  sight  in  India,  nearly 
twenty  years  ago.  Now  he  is  one  of 
the  greatest  poultry  experts  in  Eng- 
land, owning  a  big  poultry  farm  of  his 
own  and  holding  the  post  of  lecturer  to 
three  English  county  councils. 

As  a  result  of  Capt.  "Webber's  In- 
struction, his  latest  pupils  can  do  sur- 
prising things.  They  can,  for  example, 
identify  any  breed  of  fowl.  They  would 
take  up  one,  carefully  submit  the  comb 
to  a  minute  examination,  feeling  the 
length  and  thickness,  next  doing  the 
same  to  the  foot  of  the  bird,  all  this 
with  a  keen  air  of  concentrated  inter- 
est. Then  they  would  announce  the 
breed,  Orpington,  Leghorn  or  Sussex,  as 
the  case  might  be,  and  in  very  few  in- 
stances did  these  blind  Tommies*  judg- 
ment prove  inaccurate. 

9k       * 

Back  across  the  lawn,  Pearson  made  a 
beeline  for  the  steps  of  the  terrace,  a 
hundred  yards  away,  talking  volubly 
all  the  time  in  answer  to  questions. 

"We  have  now  105  men  under  our 
roof,"  said  he,  "and  fifty-two  teachers, 
practically  all  of  them  voluntary  work- 
ers. The  initial  difficulty  is  to  persuade 
the  blinded  soldiers  to  come.  They 
think  'I  shall  go  quite  off  my  head  if 
I'm  there  among  a  lot  of  other  blind 
men  all  moping  and  feeling  sorry  for 
themselves,'  but,  as  you've  seen,  nobody 
does  mope  here.  In  reality,  it  is  the 
worst  possible  thing  for  a  newly  made 
blind  man  to  be  among  seeing  relatives, 
as  they  are  always  sympathizing  with 
him  and  making  him  still  more  deject- 
ed. Here  we  are  all  blind  together, 
and  all  busy  and  happy.  We  all  have  to 
fall  downstairs  and  bump  into  each 
other  until  we  know  the  rules  of  the 
paths  and  look  silly  till  we  learn  our 
particular  job,  and  no  one  Is  any  bet- 
ter or  any  worse  than  anybody  else 

"The  men  work  four  hours  a  day,"  he 
went  on,  "two  in  the  morning  and  two 
in  the  afternoon,  for  there  is  no  use  in 
driving  a  blind  man  too  hard  unless  he 
himself  wants  to  work  longer,  as  many 
of  our  fellows  do.  The  usual  course 
here  is  about  six  months,  and  after  that 
we  set  them  up  in  whatever  trade  they 
have  learned.  No,  there  is  no  hunting 
for  berths.  For  the  most  part,  it  is 
home-work  which  we  teach  them,  and 
after  they  leave  here  it  is  merely  a 
case  of  supplying  them  with  sufficient 
work  to  do.  And,  while  they  are  here, 
besides   just   about   enough   work,   they 


ones  within.  Pearson  was  ahead,  just  at 
the  top  of  the  stairs.  Involuntarily  the 
writer  took  his  arm,  but  he  released  him- 
self gently. 

"I'm  quite  all  rierht."  he  laughed,  and 
then  it  was  noticed  that  just  above  the 
first  step  and  under  the  last  there  were 
wooden  boards.  "'A  board  means  dan- 
ger." he  explained.  "It  tells  me,  for 
example,  that  I  am  at  the  top  of  the 
stairs  and  will  tell  me  when  I  am  at 
the   bottom." 

So  he  went  down  with  brisk  steps, 
and  then  set  off  once  more,  following 
the  slate  path  alonar  the  erravel.  Sud- 
denly, with  unerring  sense  of  position, 
he  stonp^d  in  f'-ont  of  an  ancient-look- 
iner  clock,  set  in  the  side  of  the  man- 
sion. Above  it  was  a  huge  bell,  on 
either  side  of  which  were  two  e-iant 
figures,  a^med  with  hammers,  which, 
run   by  mechanism,   strike  the   hours. 

"That  is  the  thine:."  said  Pearson, 
pointiner.  just  as  if  he  could  see  it, 
"from  which  this  house  takes  its  name. 
Those  fifrur^s  and  the  clock  once  were 
in  the  at^enle  of  the  oio"  city  Church 
of  St.  Dunstan's-in-the-West.  and  the 
Marquis  of  Hertford,  when  he  was  a 
little  boy,  used  to  be  tak^n  down  by 
his  nurse  to  see  them.  He  made  up 
his  mind  then,  they  say.  that  when  he 
prrew  ur>  and  had  a  house  of  his  own  he 
would  have  those  fieu'ps  if  they  could 
be  srotten,  and  have  them  he  did.  as 
you  see.  "When,  in  1825.  the  old  Reerent's 
Park  was  parceled  out.  the  marquis 
bousrht  these  fifteen  acres  and  erected 
this  house,  and  when,  later  on,  it  was 
decided  to  remove  these  historic  fig- 
ures and  the  clock  from  the  church,  he 
bid  them  in,  set  them  up  here,  and 
thereafter  called  his  abode  'St.  Dun- 
stan's.'  " 

* 
*    * 

On  the  way  to  the  conservatory, 
which  is  now  a  workshop,  was  passed 
a  sort  of  alleyway,  between  shrubbery, 
with  a  railing  on  each  side.  The  blind 
guide  kept  one  hand  on  this,  and  di- 
rectly at  the  end,  where  several  paths 
branched  off,  he  turned  sharply  to  the 
right. 

"I>o  you  notice,"  he  asked,  "just  be- 
fore we  come  to  the  end  of  this  rail- 
ing, my  hand  meets  a  little  raised 
button?  That  tells  me  that  I  must 
turn  to  the   right." 

In  the  conservatory  were  blind  sol- 
dier boys  making  all  sorts  of  things 
under  the  direction  of  blind  experts. 
One  of  the  men,  who,  previous  to  the 
war,  had  been  a  gamekeeper  near  Not- 
tingham, was  just  finishing  a  wooden 
"foster-mother"  to  be  used  in  the  hen- 
nery; others  were  making  "telescopic 
tables,"  stools  and  hatracks,  and  beau- 
tiful, indeed,  some  of  the  work  was. 
Still  others  were  weaving  mats,  busy 
with     basket     work,     repairing     shoes. 


Most  of  them  were  whistling — one 
sightless  boy,  who,  seated  on  the  floor, 
was  fabricating  a  basket,  being  en- 
gaged in  pouring  out,  "When  the  Boys 
Come  Home,"  with  all  the  strength  of 
his  lungs.  I  talked  with  several  of  them 
and  they  all  seemed  interested  in  their 
work  and  hopeful  for  the  future.  Pear- 
son had  a  friendly  word  and  a  grasp  of 
the  arm  for  each  of  them  and  knew 
them  all  by  their  names. 

Next  were  visited  the  poultry  farm  and 
the  market  garden,  and  finally  what  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
the  place — the  last  two  combined.  Here, 
by  a  most  ingenious  arrangement  of 
wired  inclosures  radiating  from  the 
four  walls  of  the  chicken  house,  with  a 
have  plenty  of  amusement,  games,  con- 
certs, and  many  other  kinds  of  enter- 
tainment, besides  which  we  have  a  spe- 
cial 'noise  room'  filled  with  gramo- 
phones and  other  musical  instruments, 
where  they  can^go  and  kick  up  as  much 
of  a  row  as  they  like.  We  have  been 
going  now  about  a  year,  and  the  public 
has  helped  us  magnificently.  All  kinds 
of  famous  folk  come  to  visit  and  amuse 
us,  too,  including  the  king  and  queen, 
and  Queen  Alexandra  and  the  Princo  of 
Wales,  who  came  to  see  us  the  last  time 
he  was  home  from  the  front  on  leave." 
"How  can  you  teach  a  blind  man  to 
be  a  diver?"  was  asked. 

"As  easily  as  anything,"  was  thf 
prompt  reply.  "After  all,  what  Is  ? 
diver  but  a  bind  man?  The  diver  whc 
is  building  breakwaters  and  piers  work) 
in  the  dark,  for,  even  if  the  water  U 
clear,  his  work  disturbs  it,  and  makei 
it  impossible  for  him  to  see  anything 
through  it.  All  a  blind  workman  needs 
for  the  work  really  is  to  learn  to  us< 
the  telephone  and  to  give  the  riglv 
number  of  tugs  at  the  communicating 
rope.  And  divins-  is  one  of  the  bes- 
paid  of  professions!" 

(Copyright.    1915.    Dy  Curtis  Brown.) 


lfo«r^>  7V,  i>;.,u 


er^ 


BLINDED  SOLDIER 

trades  strength 
Body  for  wounded 
man's  sight 

Stanji^  Chambers,  Canadian,  Who  Recovered  Use 
of  His  Eyes  When  the  Hesperian  Sank, 

Tells  of  Reaching  Hospital  Guided  by 
Injured  Comrade  He  Carried  on  His  Back- 
-Unit  Almost  Destroyed  at  Battle  of  Ypres. 

"J  was  stone  blind.  1  heard  the  moaning 
of  a  wounded  man  near  by,  and  1.  groped 
*and  stumbled  along  until  1  found  him.  lie 
had  been  shot  in  the  side.  I  stuffed  his 
wound  with  bandages.  Then  1  told  him 
that  if  he  would  direct  me  on  the  way  I 
would  carry  him  on  my  back  to  the  dress- 
ing station. 

"The"  way  was  very  long  and  extremely 
rough.  I  fe\\  many  times.  Often  my  guide 
became  unconscious  through  the  shock  of 
the  fall.  There  was  always  the  danger 
v.hat  he  would  not  recover— that  both  of  us 
might  fall  for  the  last  time  on  the  shell- 
swept  field.  Without  him  t  was  alone  and 
helpless  in.  a  darkness  blacker  than  1  had 
ever  known.  Without  me  his  life  would 
ebb  fast  from  the  gaping  hole  which 
sapped  his  vitality  in  a  crimson  stream. 

"Faintly  lie  Avhispered  where  the  way 
was  safe  :<nd  icouragcment  as  I 

staggered  on.  Then  1,  in  turn,  encouraged 
■him  when  1  brought  him  back  to  the  world 
gone  mad  time  and  again,  after  pain  and 
shock  of  a  fall  had  given  him  release  from 
suffering  in  unconsciousness.  At  lafct  we 
came  to  the  end  of  the  road  of  horrors  and 
gentle  hands  cared  for  us  at  the  dressing 
Ion.*' 

Jn  these  words.  Stanley  Chambers,  who 
has  already  been  proclaimed  a  hero  of  the. 
fight  at  Ypres,  told  the  people  at  St.  John. 
X.   B.,   to    which   I  •  '    returned,    oi 


his  experiences  on  the  field  of  battle.  How 
Mr.  Chambers  was  blinded  by  gases  and 
"i  recover  his  sight  until  plunged 
into  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  by  the 
torpedoing  of  the  Hesperian,  already  has 
been  told.  But  the  detail  of  how  the 
Canadians  so  gallantly  accounted  for 
themselves  was  not  told  until  the  people 
of  St.  John  gathered  to  welcome  their  hero 
home. 

Valor  of  the  Canadians. 

Xo  words  can  so  vividly  tell  the  gripping 
story  of  the  fighting  as  those  in  which  Mr. 
Chambers  described  the  valor  of  the 
Canadian  contingent  to  the  audience,  so 
moved  by  the  story  that  the  only  applause 
was  an  occasional  sobbing  by  those  who 
had  friends  or  relatives  in  the  battle  zone 
of  France.  In  telling  the  story,  Mr.  Cham- 
bers  said:— 

"During  the  first  nine  weeks  we  were 
on  the  firing  line  we  did  not  see  a  German. 
We  were  inspected  by  Generals  French 
and  Smith-Dorien  and  the  latter  compli- 
mented us  on  our  appearance.  We  were 
afterward  told  that  this  meant  we  were 
5.0011  to  see  some  excitement.  We  later 
were  sent  to  Tpres,  where  we  relieved  a 
French  unit  and  the  Frenchmen,  seven 
hundred  of  them,  with  great  courtesy, 
shook  hands,  each  in  turn,  with  us  and 
wished  us  well.  The  farewell  of  the  French 
soldiers  occupied  one  and  a*  half  hours. 

"On  the  morning  following  our  arrival 
at  our  new  position  some  of  the  boys 
peeked  over  the  parapet  and  saw  the 
bodies  Of  one  hundred  and  fifty  Germans 
lying  beyond  our  trenches.  The  dead  had 
been  on  the  field  from  November  to  April. 
After  a  survey  of  our  new  position  we  de- 
cided there  was  an  excellent  chance  to 
secure  trophies  and  two  hundred  of  us 
climbed  over  the  parapet  and  started  col- 
lecting. We  were  soon  subjected  to 
machine  gun  fire,  the  Germans  probably 
thinking  that  a  charge  was  about  to  occur, 
but  we  returned  to  our  trenches  without 
the  loss  of  a  man. 

"Shelling  of  our  positions  by  the  Ger- 
mans continued  for  five  days.  We  then 
were  relieved.  Some  of  our  troops  were 
quartered  in  a  brewery,  and  one  of  our 
number,  son  of  a  Methodisl  Clergyman, 
announced  one  night  when  the  firing  was 
heavy  that  he  would  have  to  leave  the 
building,  as  'dad  would  never  forgive  him 
if  hi  were  found  dead  in  a  brewery.' 

afternoon  the  Tenth  and  Six- 
teenth battalions  formed  up  at  dusk  on 
the  canal  bank  to  make  a  stand  against  the 
Germans.  Our  unit  went  into  action  l„O50 
strong.  We  were  ordered  to  charge  In  an 
eftort  to  capture  some  guns  taken  by  the 
Germans.  We  were  cautioned  to  go  the 
distance,  ;~C0  yards,  in  short  dashes.  It 
was  a  ghastly  night.  We  eventually 
cleared  the  woods  of  Germans  and  retool: 
the  guns,  but  they  were  useless,  as  they 
had  been  spiked. 


M 


ve  liiiiy 


td 


"We  held  the  position  for  half  an  hour 
and  were  then  forced  to  retire,  leaving 
fifty  wounded  behind.  Three  hours  later 
we  again  swept  the  Germans  before  us 
and  we  found  that  the  wounded  men  had 
been  bayoneted.  We  fought  from  Thurs- 
day to  Sunday  night  without  letup  for  food 
or  sleep.  We  did  not  mind  it,  as  we  were 
in  action  all  the  tune  and  we  were  excited. 
-v  ftef  being  relieved  we  had  roll  call.  We 
had  gone  into* action  1,050  strong  and  only 
160  answered  the  call. 

"After  a  short  rest  we  were  ordered  to 
the  tiring  line  again.  It  wag  in  a  thick  fog, 
out  soon  the  fog  lifted  and  we  saw  a  Ger-. 
man  aeroplane  overhead.  Soon  our  loca- 
tion was  signalled  to  the  enemy's  artillery 
and  then  we  were  shelled  with  deadly  ac- 
curacy. Finally  an  order  to  retire  to  a 
better  position  was  given  to  us.  A  com- 
rade and  myself  decided  to  remain  where 
we  were,  and  our  decision  proved  disas- 
trous, for  we  later  had  to  make  up  our 
mind?  to  rejoin  the  others. 

"As  we  prepared  to  go  back  my  chum 
said,  'Wait  until  I  light  a  cigarette.'  But 
the  world  went  wrong  just  then,  for  a 
German  shell  struck  and  exploded  almost 
upon  lis.  My  companion  was  blown  to 
pices,  and  when  I  crawled  from  the  mass 
of  earth  at  the  bottom  of  the  huge  crater 
whlcij  the  explosion  made  I  found  my  eye- 
sight nearly  gone  from  the  gases  generated 
by  the  explosion. 

"I  realized  that  my  only  hope  of  safety 
was  to  reach  the  boys  in  the  rear.  My 
sight  was  failing  fast  and,  if  blind,  T 
might  wander  into  the  German  lines.  In 
any  rase,  my  plight,  blind  and  alone  in 
the  fire  zone,  would  be  most  desperate. 
I  finally  made  my  way  to  the  new  posi- 
tion held  by  my  comrades  and  told  them 
what  had  happened.  They  were  unable 
to  assist  me  on  my  way,  as  they  were 
then  preparing   to   charge. 

On  Board  the  Hesperian. 

After  telling  how  he  found  a.  wounded 
companion  and  traded  his  strength  of 
body  for  the  other's  strength  of  sight. 
.Mr.  Chambers  continued  :— "[  was  sent  to 
England  and  remained  there  four  months. 
Then,  as  I  was  still  blind  and  of  no  more 
a  soldier,  1  was  ordered  home.  I 
took  passage  on  board  the  Hesperian.  I 
was  nearly  asleep  when  the  explosion  oc- 
cured  in  the  evening.  The  vessel  listed 
badly    and    I    hastily    dressed. 

"Later    1   was  led  to  the  upper  deck  and 

in    one    of    the    lifeboats.      Besides 

men  of   the  crew   only  a   lady  and    myself 

were  in  the  boats.     The  captain  threatened 

to  shoot  if  the  men  did  not  leave  the  craft. 

I 
f  might  be  shot  wit  h  the  o 
the  captain  did    i 

ut  in  the  !  lenl 

■    • 
into  the   s< 


"When  1  arose  to  the  surface  I  could  see' 
esperian.      I   did    not    realize  tl.: 

stored.       1    thou  : 

would     not     be     picked     up     and     \v., 
bothering    about    whether    r    oould    .• 
not.     I   was  picked  up  within  half  an  hour. 
I  took  the  next  ship  hoirn 

making    a    tour    throug 
in   the   interests   of  enlistment,    Mr.    I 
>ill   return    to   join    his    comrad 
any  still   survive,    on   the   Fret;' 


THE    PROVIDENCE     SUNDAY   JOURNAL, 


NOVEMBER     14,    1915. 


SIGHTLESS 

SOLDIERS 

"TAUGHT  TO 

BE  BLIND'' 

rn  London  Residence  of  American 
Millionaire  Remarkable  Work  for 
War  Victims  is  Being  Carried  On 

Correspondence  of  the  Sunday  Journal.) 
LONDON,    Nov.    3. 

WHEN  Otto  Kalin,  the  Amer- 
ican millionaire,  visits  "St. 
Dunstan's,"  his  beautiful 
home  in  Regent's  Park, 
nowadays,  he  must  find  it 
hard  indeed  to  recognise  the  wonderful 
mansion  that  was  built  by  the  third 
Marquis  of  Hertford,  the  original  of  the 
wicked  Lord  Steyne,  in   "Vanity   Fair." 

For  what  was  the  wonderful  ballroom, 
■with    its    lofty    walls    of    red.    white    and 


Rold,  is  now  filled  with  desks  at  which 
young  men  with  shades  or  bandages  over 
their  eyes  and  with  quiet  women  sitting 
beside  them,  are  working  typewriters 
and  poundmg  away  at  other  Queer  lit- 
tle machines  that  look  like  typewriters 
and  yet  obviously  aren't. 

In  the  former  library  another  group 
Of  young  fellows  is  found  around  a 
skeleton  and  obviously  studying  anatomy.' 
In  what  was  the  conservatory,  plants 
■Worth  a  King's  ransom  have  giv^n  way 
to  benches  and  carpenter's  tables,  at 
Which  bootmaking,  joinery  and  basket 
and  mat  making  are  in  active  progress, 
while  in  part  of  the  beautiful  grounds, 
sacred  hitherto  to  tennis,  croquet  and  — 
no  doubt— to  polite  philandering,  the 
humble  occupation  of  poultry  keeping  is 
quite  evidently  going  on. 

At  first  sight,  there  is  nothing  particu- 
larly surprising  in  this  metamorphosis 
of  one  of  the  most  renowned  mansions 
and  most  beautiful  estates  in  the  Lon- 
don district,  for.  with  such  an  endless 
amount  of  war-work  going  on  every- 
where, stately  mansions  all  over  the  met- 
ropolis are  being  used  for  that  purpose. 
Even  the  most  casual  observer,  however, 
could  not  fail  to  recognize  that  the  men, 
all  young,  vigorous  looking,  and  appar- 
ently light-hearted,  that  one  sees  doing 
stunts  here  are  not  ordinary  war-work- 
ers, and  at  the  second  glance  one  sees 
that  they  are  all  blind,  and  that  so.  too, 
are  those  who  are  instructing  them: 

These  men  are  one  and  all  British  sol- 
diers and  sailors  who  have  been  blinded 
in  battle,  some  by  bullets,  some  through 
explosions  and  some  through  pure  shock, 
and  h^re  at  "St.  Dunstan's  Hotel,"  as 
the  American  millionaire's  mansion  has 
been  renamed,  they  are  being  taught 
trades  that  will  enable  them,  hereafter, 
to  earn  their  own  living.  IMore  than 
that,  in  fact:  They  are  being  taught,  as 
the  phrase  there  goes,  "how  to  be  blind," 
which  means,  in  a  word,  how  to  manage 
best  and  be  at  least  fairly  happy  in  spite 
of  their  terrible  affliction,  perhaps  the 
worst   that   can   happen   to   one. 


The  man  who  started  this  hostel,  and 
■who  carries  it  on  with  characteristic 
energy  and  wonderful  cheerful 
blind  man,  one  of  the  most  wonderful  of 
his  time.  He  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  the 
ex-publisher,    whose   story    is    well-known. 


-    ■■ . 


-  J 


The  Teacher  and  a  Pupil. 

At  the  Right  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson,  the  Former  Publisher,  Whose  Blindness 
Inspired  Him  to  Establish  Novel  Form  of  Relief.  At  the  Left  is  One  of  the 
Students  of  the  Home. 


Beginning-  as  an  ordinary  clerk  in  the  fa- 
mous house  of  Newnes,  Which  issues  the 
"Strand  Magazine,"  "Tit-bits"  and  so 
many  other  well-known  publications,  be 
rapidly  worked  himself  up  to  the  posi- 
tion of  its  manager,  which  he  occupied 
for  several  years.  Then  he  started  out 
on  his  own  hook,  launched  "Pearson's 
"Weekly"  and  made  a  success  of  it  by 
means  of  the  "missing  word  contest," 
started  "Pearson's  Magazine"  and  made 
a  success  of  it.  and  fipm  that  went  tm 
until  a  few  years  ago  he  was  one  of  the 
most  successful  and  powerful  men  in 
the  publishing  world  of  London,  owner 
of  the  "Daily  Express"  and  the  famous 
"Standard,"  as  well  as  of  several  provin- 
cial papers,  and  one  of  the  strongest  sup- 
porters in  England  of  the  late  Joseph 
Chamberlain  and  his  tariff  reform  policy. 

Report  says  that  he  more  than  once 
declined  the  offer  of  a  proud  title.  And 
then  he  lost  his  sight!  Lost  it  tirst  by 
degrees  and  then  outright.  It  was  a 
"bludgeoning  of  chance"  that  would  have 
crushed  most  men,  but  not  Arthur  Pear-, 
eon.  Alwa.ys  a  philanthropist  (his 
'/Fresh  Aid  Fund"  for  poor  children  has 
brought  happiness  into  thousands  of 
wretched  little  lives),  instead  of  sitting 
down  and  lamenting  his  hard  fate,  he 
devoted  himself,  instead,  to  efforts  to 
ameliorate  the  lot  of  others  afflicted  like 
himself. 

Into  the  details  of  what  he  has  ac- 
complished in  that  direction  one  need 
not  go,  but  the  National  Institute  for 
the  Blind,  of  which  he  is  now  President, 
is  one  tangible  result  of  his  efforts. 
When  the  war  broke  out,  Pearson  de- 
voted himself  to  relief  work.  The  Prince 
of  Wales's  Fund,  which  has  collected 
something,  like  $:JO,000,000,  was  his  crea- 
tion. 

Whan  men  began  coming  home  blinded 
from  the  front.  Pearson  saw  for  him- 
self a  new  field  of  usefulness.  These 
brave  fellows,  avIio  believed  that  iife 
was  ended  for  them,  must  be  shown  that 
they  could  still  be  useful  citizens;  that 
/.hey  could  even  bo  fairly  happy.  With 
the  aid  of  the  British  Tied  Cross  Society 
and  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem, 
iv-arson  started  a  temporary  home  for 
them,  but  he  wanted  one  that  would 
be  ideal.  So  he  went  to  his  friend,  Otto 
!\alm  of  the  famous  firm  of  Kuhn,  Loelj 
Sc  Co.,  and  coolly  asked  for  the  loan  of 
"St.  DunslanV,"  his  beautiful  London 
home,  for  this  purpose,  and  (all  honor 
tc  the  American)  got  it. 

This  famous  mansion,  which  has  passed 
through  many  hands  since  the  Marquis 
of  Hertford  built  it  nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago,  and  which  otto  Kahn  haj 
owned    for    upward     of    13    years,    is    un- 


deniably  one  of  the  choicest  residences 
in  or  about  London.  It  is  surrounded 
by  an  estate  of  15  acres  which  adjoins 
(and  formerly  was  part,  of)  Regent's 
Park,  one  of  the  loveliest  and  "wildest" 
of  London's  renowned  open  spaces  ana 
which  includes  a  beautiful  lake.  Look- 
ing- from  the  picturesque  "terrace."  in 
the  rear  of  the  mansion,  one  might  easily 
imagine  oneself  in  the  heart  of  the 
country,  for  not  one  single  trace  of  Lon- 
don can  be  seen,  nothing  but  undulating 
lawn,    trees   and   water! 

Truly  an  almost  ideal  temporary  home 
for  sightless  victims  of  Avar.  And  what 
unbelievable  things  they  learn  here,  to 
be  sure!  To  be  divers  for  one  thing, 
can  you  credit  it?  as  well  as  to  be  mas- 
seurs (hence  the  anatomy  class),  tele- 
phone operators,  shorthand  writers  and 
typists,  poultry  experts,  bootmakers,  car- 
penters, basket  makers  and  a  dozen 
other  things. 

This,  too,  almost  entirely  from  blind 
teachers— for.  as  Pearson  himself  pithily 
nut  it:  "If  you,  as  a  man  with  sight, 
tell  one  of  these  chaps  to  'buck  up,'  be- 
cause he  can  learn  carpentry,  say.  quite 
easily,  he  is  apt  to  think,  'Go  to  the 
ievil!  What  do  you  know  about  it?' 
But  if  a  blind  man  who  is  an  expert  car- 
penter tells  him  the  same  thing,  he  is 
the  more  likely  to  believe  it,  and  to 
pitch   in   with   courage   and   enthusiasm.  ' 

Meanwhile,  in  their  leisure  moments, 
these  blind  "Tommies"  and  "Jacks" 
learn  to  row  on  the  lake  in  the  grounds 
and  become  expert  oarsmen,  as  the  ex- 
ploits of  the  "St.  Dtmstan's"  crack  "four"' 
prove.  In  races  on  tho  Thames  at  Put- 
ney, during  the  past  summer,  they  bested 
several  blind  crews  from  other  institu- 
tions, and  recently,  over  the  same  course, 
they  met  a.  "sighted"  crew  from  Emman- 
uel College    and   beat  them  decisively! 

"By  four  lengths."  declared  one  of  the 
pretty  volunteer  helpers  at  "St.  Dun- 
stanV  wlio  described  the  races  to  the  i 
writer.  '"We  say  by*six  lengths,  but  they 
dispute  chat.  Still  it  was  a  tine  win  for 
our  fellows  and  mighty  proud  they  were!" 

Cf  course,  the  "cox  '  in  such  cases 
has  to  hp  a  "sighted"  person.  Jiowing.  it 
scorns,  is  the  form  of  recreation  which 
these  blind  soldiers  liko  best  because  it 
is  the  only  one  in  which  they  can  feel 
that  they  are  conducting  other  people, 
instead   of   beinfr   conducted    by   them. 


Perhaps  the  best  way  of  "visualizing" 
"St.  Dunstan's"  for  you  will  be  to  de- 
scribe how  it  was  shown  me  by  the 
gefiius  of  it  all.  C.  Arthur  Pearson  him- 
self. He  is  there,  among  the  "boys,"  as 
he  calls  them,  practically  all  tho  time, 
and  spends  the  rest  in  visiting  the  hos- 
pitals, interviewing  blinded  men  there, 
and    putting    hope    into    them    by    telling 


them  what  can  be  done  for  them  at  mo 
house  that  was  built  by  the  famous 
and  naughty  nobleman  who  was  one  of 
the  'original  creators  of  the  celebrated 
"Wallace  Collection,"  and  whom  Thack- 
eray  immortalized. 

Arrived  at  "St.  Dunstan's,"  and  await- 
ing- one's  turn  to  be  received  by  Us 
energetic  head,  one  sees  doors  open  and 
men  emerge  who  obviously  are  blind, 
and  yet  who  go  straight  ahead  on  then- 
way  to  one  part  of  the  building  or 
another  as  if  in  full  possession  of  their 
sight.  And  then  one  notices  that,  on  the 
floor  between  the  doorways,,  are  paths 
of  sreen  baize  and  has  it  explained  that 
these  are  placed  there  so  as  to  guide 
the  blind  men.  So  long  a.s  they  are  on 
the  baize  path,  the  latter  know  exactly 
where  they  are  going,  If  they  step  off 
1hoy  realize  that  they  have  missed  their 
way,  and  the  immediate  thing  to  do  is 
to  step  on  again. 

But  thex-e  is  C.  Arthur  Pearson  coming 
to  greet  hi3  caller,  and  one  rises  to  re- 
turn his  greeting  with  curiosity  mingled 
with  sympathy.  I  had  not  seen  him  for 
ID  years.  Then  he  was  most  active.  He 
has  changed  little,  save  for  his  dark  eyes, 
which  are  obviously  sightless.  Tall  and 
well  built,  and  quite  evidently  as  full  of 
"ginger"  as  ever,  the  only  other  sign  of 
his  affliction  is  the  fact  that  when  he 
extends  his  hand  to  grasp  yours,  he  puts 
it  out,  not  sti-aight,  but  far  to  the  side, 
and  too  high  up,  making  it  necessary  for 
you  to  do  ditto. 

"Now  let  me  take  you  round,"  he  says, 
and  with  quick  strides,  leads  the  way 
(along  a  baize  path),  into  the  former  ball- 
room, where  some  20  or  30  sightless  ex- 
warriors  are  studying  Braille  and  read- 
ing it,  working  typewriters,  and  tapping 
at  the  other  queer  little  machines  that 
have  been  mentioned.  These  prove  to  be 
shorthand  machines,  which  write  the 
signs.  5n  Braille,  on  a  thin  paper  tape. 
This  the  operator  reads,  between  his 
fingers,  and  then  transcribes  the  con- 
tents on  a  special  Braille  typewriter. 
"Those  machine  are  necessary,"  said 
Pearson,  "because  no  blind  person  can 
write  accurately  by  hand.  Sly  own  writ- 
ing has  now  become  next  to  indecipher- 
able. Soon  it  will  have  become  quite  so. 
But,  with  the  aid  of  these  machines, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  any  of  these 
chaps  from  becoming  expert  stenog- 
raphers and  typewriters." 


"Now,  let's  go  out  into  the  grounds," 
he  continued,  and  led  the  way  through  a. 
,dbroway  arid  out  upon  the  terrace,  at  the 
front  of  which  wa.s  a  flight  of  some  four 
or  Ave  stone  stairs,  l  noticed  tha 
we^-e  now  on  a  slate  path,  which,  out  of 
doors,   takes  thn  place  of  tho   baize  ones 


to 


A 


a 


< 


:$A 


within.  Pearson  was  ahead,  just  at  the 
top  of  1he  stair?.  Involuntarily  I  took  his 
arm,  but  he  released  himself  gently. 

"I'm  quit*  ali  right,"  he  laughed,  and 
then  I  noticed  that  just  above  the  first 
step  and  under  the  last  there  were 
wooden  boards.  "A  board  means  dan- 
ger," he  explained.  "It  tells  me.  for  ex- 
ample, that  I  am  at  the  top  of  the  stairs 
and  will  tell  me  when  I  am  at  the  bot- 
tom." So  he  went  down  with  brisk 
steps,  and- then  set  off  once  more,  follow- 
ing the  slate  path  along  the  gravel. 

Suddenly,  with  unerring  sense  of  posi- 
tion, he  stopped.  We  were  in  front  of 
an  ancient  looking  clock,  set  in  the  side 
of  the  mansion.  Above  it  was  a  huge 
bell,  on  either  side  of  which  were  two 
giant  figures,  armed  with  hammers, 
which,  run  by  mechanism,  strike  the 
hours 

"That  is  the  thing,"  said  Pearson, 
pointing,  just  as  if  he  he  could  see  it, 
"from  which  this  house  takes  its  name. 
Those  figures  and  the  clock  once  were 
in  the  steeple  of  the  Old  City  Chui-ch  of 
St.  Dunstan's-in-the-\Vest,  and  the  Mar- 
quis of  Hertford,  the  Lord  Steyne  of 
'Vanity  Fair,'  when  lie  was  a  little  boy, 
used  to  be  taken  down  by  his  nurse  to 
see  them.  lie  made  up  his  mind  then, 
they  say,,  that,  when  he  grew  up  and 
had  a  house  ot  his  own,  he  would  have 
those  figures  if  they  could  be  got,  and 
have  them,  he  did,  as  you  s^e. 

"When,  in  1J-25,  the  old  Regent's  Park 
was  parcelled  out,  the  Marquis  bought 
these  !•">  acres  and  erected  this  house,  and 
when  later  on  it  was  decided  to  remove 
these  historic  figures  and  the  clock  from 
the  church,  he  bid  them  in,  set  them  up 
herei  and  thereafter  called  his  abode 
'St.   Dunstan's.'  " 

On  our  way  to  the  conservatory,  which 
is  now  a  workshop,  we  were  now  pass- 
ing through  a  sort  of  alleyway,  between 
shrubbery,  with  a  railing  on  each  side. 
On  this,  T  noticed,  my  guide  kept  one 
hand,  and,  directly  we  reached  the  end. 
where  several  paths  branched  off,  he 
turned  sharply  to  the' right. 


"Do  you  notice?"  he  said.  "Just  before 
we  come  to  the  end  of  this  railing,  my 
hand  meets  a  little  raised  button.  That 
tells  me  that  I  must  turn  to  the  right!" 
And  so  on  we  Went. 

In  the  conservatory  we  saw  blind  sol- 
dier boyg  making  all  sorts  of  things 
under  the  direction  of  blind  experts.  One 
of  the  men,  wjio,  previous  to  the  war, 
had  been  a  gamekeeper  near  Notting- 
ham, was  just  finishing  a  wooden  "foster- 
mothrr"  to  be  used  in  the  hennery, 
others  were  making  "telescopic-tables," 
stools  and  hat- racks,  and  beautiful,  in- 
deed, some  of  the  work  was.  i>till  others 
were    weaving    mats,    busy    with    basket- 


work,  repairing  shoes.  Most  of  them 
were  whistling— one  sightless  boy,  who, 
seated  on  the  floor,  was  fabricating  a 
basket,  being  engaged  in  pouring  out, 
"When  the  Boys  Come  Home,"  with  af1 
the  strength  of  his  lungs.  I  talked  with 
several  of  them  and  they  all  seemed  in- 
terested in  their  work  and  hopeful  for  the 
future.  Pearson  had  a  friendly  word 
and  a  grasp  of  the  arm  for  each  of  them 
and  knew  them  all   by  their  names. 

Next  we  visited  the  poultry  farm  and 
the  market-garden,  and  finally  what  is 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of 
the  place— the  last  two  combined.  Here, 
by  a  most  ingenious  arrangement  of 
wired  inclosures  radiating  from  the  four 
walls  of  the  chicken-house,  with  a  door 
in  each  wall,  the  blind  man  learns  to 
rear  his  chickens  with  orderly  changes  of 
run,  and  grow  a  succession   of  crops. 

The  chief  instructor  of  this  branch  is 
another  wonderful  blind  man,  Capt.  Pier- 
son  Webber,  an  ex-army  man  who  lost 
his  sight  in  India,  nearly  20  years  ago. 
Now  he  is  one  of  the  greatest  poultry 
experts  in  England,  owning  a  big  poul- 
try farm  of  his  own  and  holding  the 
I  post  of  lecturer  to  three  English  county 
councils. 

As  a  result  of  Capt.  Webber's  instruc- 
tion, his  latest  pupils  can  do  surprising 
things.  They  can.  for  example,  identify 
any  breed  of  fowl,  as  I  saw  for  myself. 
They  would  take  up  one,  carefully  sub- 
mit the  comb  to  a  minute  examination, 
feeling  the  length  and  thickness,  next 
doing  the  same  to  the  foot  of  the  bird, 
all  this  with  a  keen  air  of  concentrated 
interest.  Then  they  would  announce  the 
breed.  Orpington.  Leghorn,  or  Sussex,  as 
the  case  might  be,  and  in  very  few  in- 
stances did  these  blind  Tommies'  judg- 
ment prove  inaccurate. 

Back  we  came  across  the  lawn,  Pearson 
making  a  beeline  for  the  steps  of  the 
terrance,  100  yards  away,  and  talking 
volubly  all  of  the  time  in  answer  to 
questions. 

"We  have  now  105  men  under  our  roof," 
said  he,  "and  52  teachers,  practically  all 
of  them  voluntary  workers.  The  initial 
difficulty  is  to  persuade  the  blinded  sol- 
diers to  como.  They  think  't  shall  go 
quite  off  my  head  if  I'm  there  among  a 
lot  of  other  blind  men  all  moping  and 
feeling  sorry  for  themselves.'  but,  as 
you've  seen,  nobody  does  mope  here.  Tn 
reality  it  is  the  worst  possible  thing  for 
a  newly  made  blind  man  to  be  among 
seeing  relatives,  as  they  are  always  sym- 
pathizing with  him  and  making  him  still 
more  dejected.  Hero  we  are  nil  blind  to- 
gether and  all  busy  and  happy.  We  all 
have  to  fall  downstairs,  and  bump  into 
each  other  until  we  know  the  ruU«s  of 
the  paths  and  look  silly  till  we  learn  our 


particular  job,  and  no  one  Is   any  better 
or   any    worse  than   anybody   else! 

"The  men  work  four  hours  a  day," 
he  went  on,  "two  in  the  morning'  and  two 
in  the  afternoon,  for  there  is  no  use 
in  driving  a  blind  man  too  hard  unless 
he  himself  wants  to  work  longer,  a-s  many 
of  our  fellows  do.  The  usual  course  here 
is  about  six  months,  and  after  that  we 
set  them  up  in  whatever  trade  they  have 
learned.  Xo,  there  is  no  hunting  for 
berths!  For  the  most  part  it  is  home- 
work, which  we  teach  them,  and  after 
they  leave  here  it  is  merely  a  case  of  sup- 
plying them    with   sufficient   work   to   do. 

"And,  while  they  are  here,  besides  just 
about  enough  work,  they  have  plenty  of 
amusement,  games,  concerts,  and  many 
other  kinds  of  entertainment.  beside 
which  we  have  a  special  'noise  room* 
filled  with  gramophones  and  other  musi- 
cal instruments  where  they  can  go  and 
kick  up  as  much  of  a  row  as  they  like. 
We  have  been  going  now  about  a  year 
and  the  public  has  helped  us  magnifi- 
cently. All  kind.5?  of  famous  folk  come 
to  visit  and  amuse  us  too,  including 
the  Iving  and  Queen  and  Queen  Alexandra 
and  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who  came  to 
see  us  the  last  time  he  was  home  from 
the   front   on   leave. 

"How  can  you  tench  a  blind  man  to 
be  a  diver?"  T  asked  knowing  that  this 
was   included   in    the   curriculum. 

"As  easily  as  anything,"  was  thr- 
prompt  reply.  "After  all,  what  is  a  diver 
but  a  blind  man?"  The  diver  who  Is 
building  breakwaters  and  piers  works  in 
the  dark  for,  even  if  the  water  is  clear, 
his  work  disturbs  it.  and  makes  it  impos- 
sible for  him  to  see  anything  throuerh 
it.  All  a  blind  workman  needs  for  the. 
work  really  is  to  learn  to  use  the  1ele- 
phone  and  to  give  the  right  number  of 
tugs  at  the  communicating  rope.  And  div- 
ing is  one  of  the  best  paid  of  profes- 
sions!" 

TIAYHEX    CHURCH. 
(Copyright   1015,   by  Curtis  Brown.) 


THE  CALIFORNIA  NEWS:    NOVEMBER  15,  1915 


®?arfuttg  lltnu  ^oui  to  Sttjoij  Htft  3b 

Stfftmlt 

ARIS,    October    10     (Cor- 
respondence  of  the   Ass- 
ociated   Press.)      To    ac- 
commodate the  increasing 
number  of  blind  soldiers, 
the    Quinze-Vingts   Insti- 
tution  for  the    Sightless, 
founded  by  St.  Louis,  has 
been  enlarged  by  an  annex,  a  former  convent, 
which  is  called  the  Convalescent  home.  There 
are  at  present  145  inmates  of  the  annex.  They 
are  sent  here  from  all  parts  of  France,  even  be- 
fore they  are  allowed  to  go  home.  Experience  has 
proven  that  at  the  home  the  surroundings  and 
influence  are  less  depressing  than  elsewhere.  A 
certain  mental  training  is  necessary  and  this  can 
best  be  effected  at  this  institution.  When  this  is 
accomplished   they    are     allowed    to    choose  a 
trade  to  their  liking  or  any  work  to  which  they 
may  be    particularly    adapted.   Basket-making, 
manufacture  of  brushes,  shoe-making,  printing, 
stenography  and  typewriting  are  being  taught, 
among  other  things.  Each  of  these  victims  of  the 
war  is  a  willing  student   and  an  earnest  worker. 
Notwithstanding  their  affliction  they  are  a  most 
cheerful  lot,  as    the   bantering   which    may  be 
heard  in  a  visit  to  the  various  workrooms  indi- 
cates. 

Teaching  Soldiers^  Music 
Minister  of  the  Interior  Malvy,  accompanied 
by  M.  Jules  Brisac,  of  the  public  health  service, 
and  M.  Paul  Ermard  and  a  representative  of  the 
Associated  Press  visited  the  home  recently.  En- 
tering, and  passing  through  "Joffre  Hall,"  which 
is  used  for  religious  services  and  entertainments, 
the  visitor;;  were  treated  to  an  impromptu  con- 
cert. A  singer  in  nurse's  costume  was  on  the 
stage  before  a  piano.  Beside  her  were  three 
blind  soldiers— one  with  a  leg  amputated  and 
the  military  medal  and  war  cross  pinned  to  his 
breast— all  receiving  musical  instructs  n.  k'  <  r- 
ant  of  the  presence  of  the  visitors,  the  singer 
and  her  soldier  pupils  continued  their  lessen. 


A  tour  of  grounds  and  park  with  which  the  build- 
ings are  surrounded,  followed.  Seated  on  a  bench 
in  the  open  were  half  a  dozen  inmates  learning 
the  making  of  corded  fringe  for  curtains. 
Among  these  workers  was  the  naturalized 
American,  Joseph  Amar  of  Washington,  D.  C, 
who  was  at  the  Lyons  exposition  when  war  was 
declared  and  who  enlisted  in  the  foreign  legion 
soon  after.  His  skill  and  dexterity  brought 
forth  a  compliment  from  Monsieur  Malvy. 
Amar  spends  much  of  his  spare  time  perfecting 
his  French  while  taking  his  promenade  with 
one  of  the  nurses  as  guide  and  teacher. 

At  another  spot  in  the  park  a  blind  music 
teacher — not  a  war  victim — was  giving  a  lessen 
in  cornet  playing  to  a  sightless  young  soldier. 
The  latter,  wearer  of  the  military  medal,  had 
but  one  arm.  This  instrument  is  his  sole 
distraction.  Many  of  them  are  fond  of  music 
and  several  with  violins  or  mandolins  in  their 
arms  were  seen  making  their  way  to  secluded 
spots  of  the  grounds  for  practice  and  amuse- 
ment. 

Content  With  Affliction. 

Arriving  at  an  outbuilding  where  baskets 
were  being  made,  Minister  Malvy  questioned 
some  of  the  workers  whose  laughter  was  inter- 
rupted by  introductions.  One  of  the  youngest 
of  the  blind  men,  a  soldier  from  the  Vosges, 
was  here  and  he  was  the  gayest.  His  afflictions 
he  bore  lightly  and  smilingly  declared  to  be  a 
"souvenir  of  the  Germans"  then  adding,  "I  have 
done  my  duty.  lam  content."  One  of  the  large 
rooms  at  the  institution  is  used  for  the  teach- 
ing of  massage.  Blind  masseurs  are  in  con- 
siderable demand  and  here  with  blind  com- 
rades for  subjects  they  are  being  rapidly  train- 
ed to  make  their  own  living.  Other  parts  of 
the  institution  are  devoted  to  teaching  of  read- 
ing and  writing. 

"One  of  our  first  objects  is  to  teach  these 
most  deserving  wards  of  the  nation  the  plea- 
sures of  existence,"said  Monsieur  Brisac,  who 
exercises  a  sort  or  parental  care  over  them. 

The  home  is  so  agreeable  that  some  do  not 
want  to  leave  it  even  to  be  with  their  families. 
There  are  several  cases  of  men  who  left  it  and 
asked  to  come  back  where  they  felt  the 
surroundings  more  cheerful  and  agreeable. 

— Colorado  Springs  Gazette. 


Borrow  ,  LduS£>,  ~pe  _  t. 


J*  ™ 


A  b 


i-t  15 


mv, 


ING  AS  A  TRADE 
FOR  BLIND  SOLDIERS 


2W  YORK, *>9Wr?»Zl.—  The  proposal 
has  been  made  by  C.  Arthur  Pearson 
of  the  Blinded  Soldiers  and  Sailors' 
Home  in  London  that  they  be  employed 
as  divers. 

That  this  would  be  a  suitable  occupa- 
tion is  argued  from  the  fact  that  the 
men  so  employed  work  in  the  dark  and 
that  even  when  the  water  is  clear  it 
becomes  so  disturbed  as  to  be  dark. 


THE  BOSTON  HERALD 


WEDNESDAY,  NOV.  24,  1915 


SAW  HUNDREDS  OF  FRENCH 
BLINDED  BYJIERMAN  GAS 

Most    Terrible    Sight    in     Rochelle, 

Says  »Dr.   O'Brien   of   Marlboro. 

MARLBORO,  Nov.  23— Dr.  James  F. 
O'Brien,  27  years  old,  a  local  veter- 
inary surgeon,  arrived  in  this  city  to- 
day after  a  three-months'  absence; 
during  which  he  has  crossed  the  ocean 
in  charge  of  a  shipment  of  horses  bound 
for  the  French  front. 

He  left  with  15,000  horses  for  the 
French  government,  sailing  from  Gal- 
veston, Texas.  The  ship  started  Oct. 
1.  It  was  held  up  for  repairs  at  New- 
port News.  Many  horses  were  sick 
and  14  died  and  were  thrown  over- 
board during  the  trip. 

At  length  they  landed  at  La  Polllce, 
in  the  west  of  France  and  during  the 
unloading  'Dr.  O'Brien  visited  Ro- 
chelle, a  city  of  50,000  people.  Many 
evidences  of  the  war  were  found.  Sad- 
faced  women  dressed  in  deepest  mourn- 
ing appeared  on  every  hand.  Women 
and  children  doing  work  that  in  time 
of  peace  would  be  done  by  men  was 
a  common  sight.  Soldiers  who  had 
been  maimed  in  the  war  were  In  evi- 
dence. 

The  most  horrible  of  all  sights  to 
Dr.  O'Brien  was  the  hundreds  of  soli 
diers  going  about  blind,  living  evidence 
of  the  deadly  gas  used  in  modern  war* 
fare. 


Tl^uu    \fo-rK.    n..   V.,     6 


-ucvn^ 


yip-uevw b o-r*    2/ 


<H5 


SOTHERN  TO  PLAY  FOR 
MEN  BLINDED  IN  WAR 


Benefit  Performance  of  "Lord 

Dundreary"  at  the  Booth 

Theatre  on  Nov.  30. 


The  Committee  for  Men  Blinded  in 
Battle,  of  which  Joseph  H.  Choate  is 
president  and  John  H.  Finley,  State 
Superintendent  of  Education,  is  vice- 
president  and  Mrs.  Cooper  Hewitt  is 
secretary,  lias  arranged  a  special  per- 
formance of  E.  H.  Southern  in  "Lord 
Dundreary"  at  the  Booth  Theatre  on 
Tuesday  evening-,   November  30. 

The  proceeds  of  the  performance  will 
be  forwarded  to  France  to  help  Miss 
Winfred  Holt,  who  is  there  in  charge  of 
the  work  of  teaching  the  blinded  men 
to  help  themselves.  She  Is  applying  to 
this  work  the  methods  which  she  in- 
troduced at  the  Lighthouse  in  East 
Fifty-ninth   street. 

All  checks  and  requests  for  seats 
should  be  sent  to  William  Forbes  Mor- 
gan, Jr.,  17  East  Thirty-eighth  street. 
The  seats  are  $5  each.  The  Commit- 
tee for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle  consists 
of  Joseph  Auerbach,  Mrs.  August  Bel- 
mont. Miss  Emily  H.  Bourne,  Mrs. 
Nicholas  F.  Brady,  Joseph  II.  Choate, 
Mrs.  Henry  Clews,  Mrs.  L.  R.  de  Cravi- 
oto,  Mrs.  William  K.  Draper,  John  II. 
Finley,  Mrs.  Amos  T.  French,  Mrs. 
Richard  Gambrill,  Senator  Thomas  P. 
Gore,  the  Right  Rev).  WilLiam  M.  Gros- 
venor,  Mrs.  0.  H.  Harriman.  Mrs.  Peter 
Cooper  Hewitt,  Mis*  Wlfllfrid  Hoi; 
seph  Howland  Hunt,  Willard  V.  Kins', 
Mrs.  J.  F.  D.  Lanier,  Adolph  Ix>wh 
Seth    Low,    Mrs.    Seth    Low,    Mrs.    John 


Magee.  the  Rev.  L.  J.  Maghes,  the  Rev. 
WiUaim  T.  Manning,  Howard  Ma»s- 
fleld,  Rufisell  W.  Moore,  William  Forces 
Morgan,  Jr.,  "Mrs.  Henry  Fairfield  Os- 
born,  Mrs.  Henry  Pblppf,  Miss  D.  F. 
Rogers,  Mrs.  Herbert.  L.  Satterlee,  Her- 
bert L.  Satterle,  Jacob  H.  Scbiff,  J.  G. 
Sehmidlapp,  Isaac  N.  Seligman,  Francis 
Lynde  Stetson,  Wiilliam  Hovard  Taft.Mrs. 
Frederick  F.  Thompson,  Mrs.  Samuel  G. 
Van  I>usen,  Felix  M.  Warburg,  Dr. 
Schuyler  Skaats  Wheeler,  Arthur  'Will- 
iams   and    Mrs.    Helen   S.    Woodruff. 

The  list  of  patronesses  for  the  benefit 
performance  up  to  the  present  time  is : 
Mrs.  Charles  B.  Alexander,  Mrs.  Arthur 
Scott  Burden,  Mrs.  Newbold  Leroy  Ed- 
gar, Mrs.  Philip  Lydig,  Mrs.  Stephen 
Henry  Oiin,  Mrs.  James  L.  Putnam, 
Mrs.  William  Church  Osborn,  Mrs.  Roche, 
Mrs.  H.  H.  Rogers,  Miss  Anna  Sands 
and   Mrs.    French   Vanderbilt. 


Tle-vo    V0yK,,-n.^..    S-Hrv. 


Tlot/evnloe-r  3/ff.  1  315. 

BLIND  HEROES 
OF  FRANCE 

By    <JEOROBTTB    (FASS/EDOIT. 

ISHAIyL  never  forget  Paul  Abefil«» 
a  young  sous-offlcier  blinded  la 
baft  tie.  The  first  time  I  called  on 
'him  at  the  Hospital  Rothschild] 
In  Paris  he  told  me  there  was  no  need 
ito  cheer  him  up,  nor  would  he  be 
taught  how  to  make  macrame  lace  or 
to  play  dominoes  (the  blind  man's! 
solace) . 

"Why  teach  me  all  that?**  he  said 
somewhat  irritably  to  those  who  of- 
fered. "My  head'  isn't  empty  because 
iny  eyes  are  out  of  it.  I  can  always 
amuse  myself  by  thinking,  and  I  can 
think  of  things  to  amuse  others  too. 
Why,  the  other  day  I  played  a  joke  on 
a  crowd  of  people  in  the  street  and  I 
got  a  lot  of  fun  out  of  it. 

"You  know  I  always  wear  these 
when  I  go  out,"  and  the  young  man 
pulled  a  pair  of  neavily  smoked  glasses 
from  his  pocket;  "then  nobody  can 
tell  I'm  blind.  Besides  I've  learned  to 
walk  without  hesitating  Just  as  if  I 


"I  was  walking  along  the  Boulevard 
des  Italians  with  a  comrade  who  acts 
as  my  guide.  I  asked  him  to  tell  me 
exactly  wbere  we  were  and  instructed 
him  to  stop  at  the  next  corner,  where 
I  knew  there  was  a  high  'building. 
Once  there  I  raised  my  head  and  ex- 
claimed: 'What  do  I  see!  What  do 
I  see!' 

"Several  times  I  repeated  my  re- 
mark, each  time  with  more  astonish- 
ment. Pretty  soon  there  was  a  little 
crowd  around  us.  I  knew  all  eyes  were 
turned  upward  and  I  could  hear  on  all 
sides  'What  does  he  see?  What  is  the 
matter?  What  on  earth  does  he  see?' 
"I  turned  on  them  and  jerking  off 
my  glasses  exclaimed:  'Why,  gen- 
tlemen, I  see  nothing  whatever.  How 
can  I  see  when  I.  have  no  eyes?  It  is 
you  who  see  something,  not  I!' 

"No  one  said  a  word  and  I.  walked 
off  calmly,  leaving  them  'epates'!" 

Epates!  It  is  well  for  proud,  happy 
go  lucky  Paul  Abeille  that  in  'his 
charming  insouciance  he  had  not 
stopped  to  analyze  their  silence.  He 
wished  to  amuse  the  boulevardiers  by 
his  wit,  not  to  terrify  them  by  his  af- 
fliction. 

Then  I  have  another  friend  whose 
nose  has  been  torn  off  by  the  bursting 
of  a  shell,  a  sad  aisngureineiiu  jhuo 
is  the  only  complaint  he  has  ever 
been'  known  to  utter:  "What  a  fool 
I  was,  anyhow,  to  stick  my  nose  just 
where  the  shell  was  going  to  burst!" 
And  then  you  laugh  with  him.  Yiou 
must,  for  he  expects  you  to. 

Their  gentleness  almost  equals  their 
bonnehumeur.  A  wounded  "pioupiou," 
much  admired  and  envied  by  the 
others  for  he  had  been  at  nearly  all 
of  the  big  battles,  confided  to  his 
nurse  the  other  day  in  his  own  inimi- 
table argot:  "I've  seen  such  sights 
that  it  gives  me  the  creeps  when  I 
first  start  to  cut  my  meat  in  eating!" 
Then  there  is  adjudant  chef  Jacques 
Leveque,  whose  letter  to  his  mother 
announcing  the  mews  of  his  blindness 
as  a  result  of  his  wounds  is  so 
tenderly  and  ingeniously  worded  in 
order  that  the  shock  may  not  be  too 
great  for  her  that  it  was  lately  pub- 
lished in  the  'Annales" — Jacques 
Leveque,  with  his  feminine  beauty, 
his  highly  polished  nails,  his  almost 
comical  concern  about  his  looks  and 
his  intense  relief  when   the  nurse  as- 


sures  him,  which  is  true,  that  his 
beauty  Is  not  in  the  least  marred; 
Jacques  Lreveque,  of  an  adoring 
mother — well,  on  the  11th  of  April 
last  he  fought  like  a  lion  and  with 
his  twenty-eight  soldiers  held  his 
ground  against  350  Germans,  not  los- 
ing a  single  man  and  winning  for 
himself  the  Medaille  Militaire. 

The  other  day  I  sat  between  two  ] 
young  blind  'sous-offioiers  in  their  lit-  ' 
tie  room  at  the  Lariboisiere  Hospital. 

"I'm  so  glad,"  said  the  taller,  better 
looking  one,  with  an  instinctive  shud- 
der, "that  I  lost  my  eyes  instead  of 
an  arm  or  a  leg.  That  would  indeed 
have  been  id'readful." 

Not  to  be  aJble  to  see  the  beautiful 
things  in  the  world  is  had  enough,  but 
to  be  an  unsightly  object  one'sself — that 
to  many  a  Frenchman  seems  unendur- 
able. Yet  when  it  comes  to  the  test  he 
endures  it  with  wonderful  philosophy, 
just  as  he  endures  the  hardships  in 
the  trenches.  When  questioned  about 
the  latter  he  usually  shrugs  his 
shoulders  and  answers:  "Oh,  we  didn't 
mind.    We  are  all  together!" 

They  were  together.  That  means  a 
great  deal  to  the  French  soldier,  and 
it  may  toe  that  which  makes  him  so 
patient  as  he  lies  suffering  in  his  bed 
at  the  hospital. 

Imagine  a  room  with  ten  beds  and 
in  each  bed  a  soldier  with  his  eyes 
put  out.  I  entered  just  such  a  room 
some  two  weeks  ago  "at  the  Quinze 
Vingt  Hospital.  On  each  pillow  I 
placed  a  fragrant  flower  and  was  re- 
warded each  time  by  a  faint  smile. 
One  fair  haired  'boy,  however,  seemed 
indifferent. 

"You  can  amell  it,  anyhow,"  I  said 
consolingly,  "and  that's  the  best  of 
most    flowers." 

"I  can't,"  he  answered.  "I've  lost 
the  sense  of  smell  also"' — a  thing  which 
often  occurs  in  connection  with 
wounds  in   the   head. 

I  started  to  take  my  posy  away,  it 
seemed  such  irony  to  leave  it  there. 
But  he  held  on  to  it  gently,  finmly. 
"No,  no,"  he  said  with  charming  good 
humor,  "let  me  have  it,  flowers  are 
so  pretty."  And  I  left  him  fingering 
lightly,  with  real  pleasure,  the  flower 
he  could  neither  smell  nor  see. 

These  are  the  young  heroes  of 
France.        German     system,     German 


efficiency,  nay  even  German  "atrocities 
can  never  crush  the  grace  and  spirit 
of  French  youth. 


Yle,w  VorK,  ,  Tl,  V.  ,  G-Lob^ 


BLIND  SOLDIERS' 
AWFUL  PLIGHT 


Tragic  Stories  of  Heroes  Made 
Sight!ess~-E,  H,  Sothern  Will 
Appear  in  Benefit  Perform-' 
ance  To-Morrow  Night. 


The  Committee  for  Men  BUnd^^r 
Battle,  with  New  VoiK  headquarters 
at  17  East  Thirty -eighth  street,  is 
in  receipt  of  letters  from  Miss  Wini- 
fred Holt,  president  of  the  Franco- 
American  Committee  for  the  Blind, 
telling  of  her  experiences  \in  Paris 
with  the  war-hiinded  soldiers-  Fol- 
lowing are  excerpts  from  Miss  Holt's 
letters: 

"Fere  is  a  story:  I  was  much  wor- 
ried for  one  of  my  men  who  had  sev- 
eral times  wanted  to  kill  himself.  I 
went  to  see  him  in  the  hospital,  where 
he  still  was.  and  told  him  how  tired  and 
overworked  1  was  and  that  I  wished 
his  help,  so  that  1  would  not  any 
longer  feel  the  responsibility  of  jack- 
ing him  up  morall.v  to  play  h.s.  part. 
He  gave  me  his  hand  and  promised 
that  he  would  play  the  game  and  not 
fail  again.  Two  days  ago  ther< 
an  influx  of  blind  nun  in  one  of  the 
hospi  i  p.t  a  blind 

Lo  see  the  then  who  had 
ned  from  the  front  bereft  of  then- 
sight.  My  pupil,  who  had  promised 
a.  tew  days  before  to  help  me.  eir 
the  room  at  one  end  as  my  aide  en- 
tered  at  the  other.  He  was  calling 
out  to  a  young  ofheer  whose  name  he 


heard:  'Is  it  you,  Charles;  is  it 
>  c.  11 .  my  comrade."  A  man  whose 
had  been  shot  out  about  a  week 
staggered  toward  my  pupil  grop- 
ingly, they  met,  threw  their  arms 
about  each  other,  kissed.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  flow  of  talk.  The  two  blind 
officers  had  been  to  school  together, 
had  been  to  the  same  Lycee,  and  in 
the  same  troop;  now  they  have  met 
again,  companions  In  blindness.  'I 
cannot  see  you.  you  know,  Charles,' 
said  one  to  the  other.  'Nor  I  you,' 
answered  his  comrade.  'Do  you  re- 
gret?' asked  my  pupil,  and,  lifting  his 
head  proudly,  the  other  said.  'No,  I 
regret  nothing;  T  would  do  it  again.' 

"Hero   is  another  story:     The  maire 
of  a  neighboring  town  wrote  me  a  let- 
about    a    young    architect    whose 
been  shot  out.    He  had  many 
petty  debts,  which  he  could  ha^e  pan 
with   1ms  good   business,   but   the   sud 
den  loss  of  his  eyes  left  him  a  wreck 
sitting  amid  the  plans  he   could   no 
carry  out,   listening  to   the  crying  a 
his  children  and  the  sighs  of  his  wife 
Our   committee   has   come   to   his   res 
He  already  has  a  small  bank  ac 
count,  and  comes  to  us  regularly,   le« 
by  his  wife,  to  find  light  through  ou 
work.     Here  is  a  case  where  not  onl; 
do  we  have  to  give  an  entire  re-educa 
tion,   but  have  to  look  after   the  wel 
fare    of   a   refined,    carefully    nurture* 
wife  and  children. 

"'Stili  another  story:  A  young  Poh 
who  was  filled  with  the  cause  of  tin 
allies  left  his  family  to  fight.  He  wa 
b  inded  in  his  first  action.  Havins 
disobeyed  his  family,  and  being  ex- 
tremely poor,  he  refused  to  return  to 
them,  and  insisted  that  the  simplest 
thing  was  for  him  to  kill  himself.  We 
have  changed  his  point  of  view,  and 
he  is  now  greatly  encouraged  by  feel- 
ing that  he  can  help  France  and  his 
fellow  sufferers  still.  A  unique  point 
in  this  case  is  that  we  have  to  teach 
this  pupil  French,  as  he  only  knows 
Polish  and  German. 

"A  fourth  man  is  an  Arab  who 
speaks  neither  English  nor  French. 
H  was  difficult  to  overcome  his  abso- 
lute blindness  and  inability  to  under- 
stand, but  finally  a  friend's  cook  came 
to  the  hospital,  went  out  to  the  hos- 
pital and  supplemented  our  teaching. 
The  poor  Arab  was  forced  to  undergo 
another  painful  operation.  The  cook 
came  again  and  talked  to  him  in  his 
native  language  until  he  went  under 
the  other.  Incidentally,  this  cook  has 
become  so  interested  in  our  work  that 
he  has  turned  philanthropist  as  well 
as  cook  and  will  preside  over  the 
kitchen  in  the  Phare  de  France. 


'We  are  overwhelmed  with  blind 
soldiers  clamoring  to  come  to  our 
hew  house,  in  which  we  hope  soon  to 
be  installed.  The  struggle  of  keep- 
ing up  the  work  without  knowing 
where  the  money  is  to  come  from  is 
fearful." 

It  is  to  raise  funds  for  this  work 
that  E.  H.  Sothern  is  giving  a  special 
benefit  performance  of  "Lord  Dun- 
dreary" at  the  Booth  Theatre  on 
Tuesday  night.  ^^ 


TUw-  ^ovK,,  Yl.tf.,   S 


December     1.    \<\\5. 
^SpTHERN  PLAYS  FOR  BLIND. 

Performance  of   "Lord   Dundreary" 
to  Aid   AVar's   Sightless. 

K.  H.  'Sothern  gave  a  benefit  perform- 
ance of  "Dord  Dundreary"  at  the  Booth 
Theatre  last  night  for  the  Committee  for 
Men  Blinded  in  Battle.  The  theatre  was 
filled  with  a  large  number  of  notables. 
About  $4,000  was  raised.  Miss  Winifred 
Holt,  who  organized  the  New  York  State 
Association  for  the  Blind,  is  working  in 
Paris  in  the  interests  of  the  committee 
to  teach  blinded  soldiers  to  carry  on 
their  occupations. 

Joseph  H.  Choate,  who  is  president  of 
the  committee,  made  a  speech  after  the 
rsecond  act  of  the  play.  After  outlining 
the  work  that  is  being  done  he  took  oc- 
casion to  criticise  the  Administration's 
foreign  policy. 

"It   must  -be    regretfully   stated,"    said 
Mr.  Choate,  "that  the  American  Govern- 
ment has  done  nothing  very  much.     We 
have  been  writing  a  lot  of  notes  to  the 
warring    nations    concerning    the    viola- 
tion of  international  law,  but  they  hav*» 
been   the  kind  that   have  never  gone   to 
;  protest  because,  like  the  old  time  green- 
backs, they  have  never  been  redeemable 
at   any  particular  time.      We   wish    that 
j  our    Government    had    done    more    than 
\  this." 

Mr.  Choate  made  an  appeal  tor  funds 
which  resulted  in  subscriptions  amount- 
ing to  nearly  $u,o00.  Mrs.  H.  \j.  Satterlee 
contributed  $1,00-0  of  this  amount.  The 
total  proceeds  of  the  day  ami  evening 
were  $10,Q'00. 

Mrs."  Peter  Cooper  Hewitt  is  seer- 
of    the    Committee    for    Men    Blind' 
Battle,  which  has  its  headq 
J^ast  Thirty-eighth  street. 


it  vk 


rLe,w-  Vo^rH,    VU-  *^.,  J  ume 


Dccewbe,-r     I  ..    l^lS. 


CHOATE  RIDICULES 
WILSON  WAR  NOTES 


Would  Have  Had  Us  Lead  the 

Neutrals    When     Belgium 

Was  First  Despoiled. 


SAYS  MORE  MUST  BE  GIVEN 


Speaks  to  Audience  Out  to  See  Soth- 
ern  Act  for   Benefit  of   Men 


& 


Blinded     in    Battle. 


E.  H.  Sothern  appeared  last  night  in 
the  r61e  of  Lord  Dundreary,  made 
famous  by  his  father,  in  a  performance, 
given  in  the  Booth  Theatre  as  a  benefit 
for  the  Committee  for  Men  Blinded,  in 
Battle.  The  performance  walTTffMW^be 
auspices  of  an  Executive  Committee,  of 
which  Joseph  H.  Chcate  is  President, 
and  the  Right  Rev.  David  H.  Greer,  John 
H.  Finley,  Mrs.  Peter  Ceoper  Hewitt, 
Miss  D.  F.  Rogers,  and  William  Forbes 
Morgan,  Jr.,  are  the  other  members. 

The  committee  is  working  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Miss  Winifred  Holt,  who  was, 
for  many  years  identified  with  efforts 
to  train  the  blind  of  New  York  to  "  see 
with  their  fingers,"  and  who  in  June 
last  went  to  Europe  to  help  the  men 
who  have  been  blinded  in  battle. 

After  the  second  act  Mr.  Sothern,  in 
introducing  Mr.  Choate,  told  of  his 
pleasure  in  being  at>ie  to  help  in  such  a 
worthy  cause.  He  said  he  understood 
there  were  1,200  English  players  in  va- 
rious branches  of  the  service,  and  that 
to  bring  the  matter  nearer  home  several 
members  of  his  company  had  relatives 
at  the  front. 

Mr.  Choate  confessed  to  having  seen 
the  present  Lord  Dundreary's  father 
nearly  sixty  years  ago  in  the  role,  and 
said  he  was  glad  to  observe  that  the 
younger  Sothern  had  inherited  all  his 
father's  qualities  and  faculties. 

"  What  about  our  country?  "  he  asked, 
turning  to  the  occasion  of   the  perform- 


ance.  "  What  have  we  done?  The 
American  Government  has  not  done 
much.  It  has  issued  many  notes,  admi- 
rable notes  some  of  them,  but  none  has 
yet  gone  to  protest.  The  reason  that 
none  has  gone  to  protest  is  that,  like  the 
greenbacks  issued  during  the  civil  war, 
they  were  not  redeemable  at  any  partic- 
ular time.  I  wish  cur  Government  had 
done  more;  that  it  had  given  the  key  to 
all  neutral  nations  when  Belgium  was 
overrun,  when  the  great  University  of 
Louvain  was  despoiled  and  all  pledges 
trampled  upon." 

This  part  of  Mr.  Choate's  speech  was 
punctuated  with  applause.  Continuing, 
he  said  he  believed  that  while  we  had 
been  giving  liberally,  before  the  war 
was  over  we  would  have  to  give  and 
would  feel  it  a  privilege  to  give  ten 
times  more.  He  then  told  of  Miss  Holt's 
work  in  France  and  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment placing  at  her  disposal  build- 
ings in  Paris  in  which  to  carry  on  her 
work. 

The  performance  was  a  part  of  a  plan 
to  raise  $40,000  to  be  sent  to  Miss  Holt, 
$10,000  having:  been  sent  within  a  few 
days.  A  subscription  was  taken  during 
the  evening,  and  in  addition  to  the 
amount  given  which  will  be  announced 
later,  $3,500  -vas  realized  from  the  sale 
of  seats  and  boxes. 

The  patronesses  of  the  entertain- 
ment  were 

Mrs.  Charles  B.  Alexander,  Mrs.  William 
B.  Anderton,  Mrs.  Edmund  L.  Baylies,  Mrs. 
Frederic  H.  Betts.  Mrs.  Arthur  Scott  Burden, 
Mrs.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  Mrs.  Paul  D.  Cra- 
vath,  Mrs.  R.  Fulton  Cutting.  Mrs.  Henry  I  . 
Davison,  Mrs.  Frederick  Edey.  Mrs.  Nebold 
Le  Rov  Edgar.  Mrs.  Charles  Dana  Gibson, 
Mrs.  Montgomery  Hare,  Mrs.  Frederic  B. 
Jennings,  Mrs.  Frederick  P.  Keppel.  Mrs.  C. 
Grant  La  Farge,  Mrs.  Philip  M.  Lydig.  Mrs. 
James  W.  Markoe.  Mrs.  Stephen  Henry  Ohn. 
Mrs.  William  Church  Osborn,  Mrs  James  L. 
Putnam.  Mrs.  Roche,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Roger,. 
Miss  Anna  Sands.  Mrs.  William  J.  Schlerfe- 
lln,  Mrs.  Henry  Dwight  Sedgwick  «*«.  11. 
H.  Sothern.  Mrs.  John  B.  Trevor.  Mrs.  Rich  - 
ard  Trimble.  Mrs.  Frederick  \  anderbilt.  and 
Mrs.   French  Vanderbilt. 

The  performance  of  "  Hit-the-Trail 
Holliday"  at  the  Astor  Theatre  last 
night  was  in  the  nature  of  a  benefit  tor 
the  Catholic  Centre  for  the  Blind.  A 
partv  of  clergymen  attended  the  per- 
formance, and  at  the  end  of  the  first 
act  Dudley  Field  Malone  and  Mgr.  La- 
velle  made  short  talks. 


Tl^vU    VorK/,      >X-    W.,      «-■ 


1>C  YV 


December    ^-1^15. 

S.4  VE  BUMD  HEROES  OF 
FRANCE  FROM  SUICIDE 

Miss  Winifred  Holt  Tells  New  York  Committee  of  Work 

Accomplished  Toward  Organization  of  "Hotel 

du  Phare"  for  Sightless  Soldiers. 


Miss  Winifred  Holt,  of  the  French  American  committee  fc 
those  blinded  in  the  war,  dictating  a  message  to  a  blind  sol- 
dier, who  is  writing  on  an  American  shorthand  ma- 
chine.   The  soldier  received  140  wounds. 

Miss  Winifred  Holt  has  written  to  the 
■New  York  members  of  the  Committee 
for  Men  Blinded  in  Battle,  17  East 
Thirty-eighth  street,  telling  of  her  work 


;  in  France.  She  describes  the  many 
soldiers  who  came  back  from  the  battle- 
field with  their  eyes  put  out,  who  think 
that  suicide  is  the  only  thing-  for  (them. 
They  «ure  taken  in  hand  by  this  com- 
mittee, oared  for  and  taught  to  work 
for  themselves  and  for   France. 

Miss  Holt  rtells  of  the  Hotel  du  Phare 
■which  she  hopes  will  soon  be  established 
for  these  men.  She  says  that  the  pres- 
ent quarters  are  not  large  enough  and 
that  already  'Ve  are  overwhelmed  with 
blind  soldiers  clamoring  to  come  to  our 
new  house  in  which  we  hope  to  be  soon 
installed."  Miss  Holt  says  money  is  the 
one  great  need  to  carry  on  this  work. 
The  Princess  de  Polignac  has  been  in- 
terested tin  helping;  the  committee's 
work. 

"Our  Hotel  du  Phare  (lighthouse)," 
says  Miss  Holt,  'will  be  the  men's 
club,  where  they  will  sleep,  have 
their  music  room,  their  game  rooms, 
their  gymnasium,  and  so  on.  As  you 
know  it  is  given  to  us  by  the  French 
Government.  The  Phare  itself,  which 
will  correspond  to  our  New  York  Light- 
house, promises  to  be  one  of  the  most 
interesting  thing®  on  the  Continent.  Our 
men  are  full  of  enthusiasm  and  anxious 
to  run  the  work  themselves.  There  is 
such  a  wonderful  esprit  de  corps  among 
the  blind  soldiers  and  officers." 

One  of  the  stories  Miss  Holt  tells  fol- 
lows: 


Blind    Friends.  Meet. 

"A  few  days  ago  I  was  much  worried 
for  one'  of  my  men,  who  had  several 
times  wanted  to  kill  himself.  As  my 
work  is  very  pressing,  I  went  to  see  him 
in  the  hospital,  where  he  still  was,  and 
told  him  how  tired  and  overworked  I 
was,  and  that  I  wished  his  help,  so  that 
I  would  not  any  longer  feel  tlhe  respon- 
sibility of  jacking  him  up  morally  to 
play  his  part.  He  gave  me  his  hand 
and  promised  that  he  would  ^play  the 
game,'  and  not  fail  again.  He  swore 
that  he  would  help  in  every  way  to  ligfr 
the  Phare. 

"Two  days  ago  there  was  an  influ 
of  blind  men  in  one  of  the  hospital 
where  he  was.  I  sent  a  blind  aide-de 
camp  to  see  the  men  who  had  returnei 
from  the  front  bereft  of  their  sighl 
My  pupil,  who  had  promised,  a  fev 
days  before,  to  help  me,  entered  th» 
room  at  one  end  as  my  aide-de-canu 
came  in  from  the  other.     He  was  call- 


ing  out  to  a  young  officer,  whose  name 
he  had  heard:  'Est-ce  que  c'est  vous, 
Charles?'  'C'est  vous,  mon  camarade?' 
A  man  whose  eyes  had  been "  shot  out 
about  a  week  ago  staggered  toward  my 
pupil  gropingly ;  they  met  and  threw 
ilioir  arms  around  each  other  and 
kissed.  Then  followed  a  flow  Qf 
friendly  talk. 

"The  two  blind  officers  had  been  to 
school  together,  had  been  to  the  same 
Lycee  and  in  the  same  troop  ;  now  they 
both  met  again,  comrades  in  blindness. 
'I  cannot  see  you,  you  know,  Charles,' 
said  one  to  the  other.  'Nor  I  you,'  said 
the  other.  'Est-ce  que  vous '  ne  le  re- 
grettez  pas?'  said  my  pupil.  Lifting  his 
head  proudly  the  other  said:  'Non,  je 
ne  regrette  rien,  je  le  ferais  'encore.' 

"Men.  like  this  are  the  people  who 
will  make  our  Phare  a  light  giving  cen- 
tre not  only  for  France  but  for  the 
-whole  of  Europe,  and  it  is  for  them  that 
I  beg  you  to  interest  the  American  pub- 
lic in  sending  me  funds.  We  need 
money  for  guides,  motors,  games,  ma- 
chinery, materials  and  relief." 


Pole    Suffers    for    France. 

Another  story: 

"A  young  Pole,  who  was  filled  with 
the  cause  of  the  Allies,  left  his  family 
to  fight  for  civilization.  He  was 
blinded  in  his  first  action.  Having  dis- 
obeyed his  family  and  being  extremely , 
poor,  he  refused  to  return  to  them  and ' 
insisted  that  the  simplest  thing  was  for 
him  to  kill  himself.  We  have  changed 
his  point  of  view  and  he  is  now  greatly! 
encouraged  by  feeling  that  he  can  help 
France  and  his  fellow  sufferers  still.  A 
unique  point  in  this  case  is  that  we 
have  to  teach  this  pupil  French,  as  he 
only  knows  Polish  and  German. 

"We  have  just  given  a  Radiograph 
machine  to  the  Quinze-Vingts,  costing 
$500.  It  is  very  important  that  they 
should  have  this,  as  at  present  many 
eyes  do  not  get  the  best  possible  treat- 
ment owing  to  the  lack  of  the  machine 
and  eyes  which  our  machine  could  save 
are  lost  until  it  is   installed." 


j£j  a.U^YYwore/  >    WbcL'. ,    S 


€,vnp  e.-<~ 


°(  15. 


Christmas  OfJB&L^ 

CLARIS  is  endeavoring  to  make  this 
Christmas  one  of  as  much  cheer 
as  possible  to^har  blind  soldiers.  The 
city  gives  eaci$JT5  a  year,  and  a  little 
money  goes  a  long  way  in  France.  Now 
the  "Friend  of  the  Blind  Soldier"  has 
been  organized  under  the  leadership  of 
Rene  Valley-Rarot,  vice-president  of 
the  Pasteur  Institute.  The  Government 
gladly  co-operated  in  teaching  the  sol- 
diers "the  art  of  being  blind." 

Paul  Emard,  secretary-general  of  the 
society,  whom  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior placed  in  charge  of  the  convales- 
cent  home,   says: 

"The  first  three  clays  I  spent  here 
with  the  blind  were  passed  in  the  midst 
of  a  sort  of  earthly  purgatory.  Such 
misery!  The  stillness  of  the  nights  was 
broken  often  and  often  by  their  hoarse 
sobs. 

"At  that  time  our  workshops  were 
not  ready.  On  the  fourth  day  I  dis- 
covered that  our  instructor  in  the 
Braille  system  of  reading  and  writing — 
himself  a  blind  man — had  learned  the 
trade  of  a  brushmaker. 

"I  seized  the  opportunity  eagerly, 
found  the  tools  and  materials  for  the 
experiment,  and,  selecting  purposely 
the  most  despondent  man  in  the  institu- 
tion, set  him  to  work  on  a  brush  under 
the  direction  of  the  Braille  instructor. 
The  result  Was  that  the  man  came  to 
fore  the  day  was  over,  and  said: 

"  'T  am  saved.  I  am  able  to  do  some- 
thing  in  life  again.' 

"Shortly  every  other  unfortunate  had 
heard  his  story.  The  psychological  ef- 
fect was  instantaneous.  We  quickly 
discovered  that  the  men  deserted  every- 
thing in  favor  of  work.  They  would 
rather  make  brushes  and  baskets  or 
cane  chairs  than  listen  to  the  finest 
music  we  could  offer  them.  It  was  th* 
same  with  games  and  lectures.  We 
found  the  psychological. value  of 'work 


superior  to  that  of  any  other  diversion 
we  could  devise." 

The  Frenchman  is  the  most  easily  in- 
fluenced, and,  though  he  may  sink  into 
the  gulf,  he  prefers  the  heights  of  op- 
timism. 

The  Austrian  is  depressed  and  brood- 
ing, but  open  to  cheerful  advice. 

The  Englishman  feels  the  tragedy 
perhaps  most  keenly,  but  accepts  it  with 
the  dogged  courage  that  marks  him  in 
battle.  Rut  he  becomes  reconciled  to 
the  inevitable  quite  soon. 

The  Russian  is  silent  and  uncom- 
plaining. He  accepts  fate  with  the  same 
nerveless  indifference  that  he  faces 
death. 

The  German  blind  are  grim  stoics, 
and  the  maimed,  for  the  most  part,  are 
patient  and  hopeful. 


.bostovu,    M  a-ss.,    He.-v-aAdL. 


D^c^-yv\,ber   10.     l^lS 


,  I 


1,000,000  WOUNDED  IN 
fV     FRENCH  HOSPITALS 

Conditions  Worse  Now  Than  Last  Winter,  Saysl 

Harold  E.  Goad,  in  Appeal  for  Funds— Expect 

5000  More  Totally  Blind  in  Six  Months. 


"There  are  now  1,000,000  wounded  in 
the  French  hospitals,  and  there  seems 
little  likelihood  that  the  number  will 
decrease;  rather  is  it  likely  to  increase, 
and  it  is  calculated  that  in  the  next  six 
months  if  the  ratio  of  injuries  to  the 
head  continues  there  will  be  at  least 
5000  more  totally  blinded  than  now," 
sand  Harold  E.  Goad,  in  the  course  of| 
a  talk  yesterday  for  the  benefit  of  the 
French  Wounded  fund,  the  headquarters 
of  the  Boston  committee  for  which  is  at 
306  Boylston  street. 


Mrs.     Jasper    Whiting    of    17    Exeter 
street,  one  of  the  1 

..on  branch,  arranged  for  the  newspaper- 
men to  meet  with  Mr.  Goad  subsequent 
to  the  talk,  at  her  house.  He  was  in 
this  country  in  the  spring,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  movement  for  raising 
funds  for  the  wounded,  and  then  went 
to  France  to  assnst  in  handling  the  sup- 
plies as  they  arrived.  Recently  he  has 
again  visited  the  26  or  23  cities  in  this 
country  in  which  local  branches  of  the 
organization  for  the  fund  have  been  es- 
tablished. Not  a  cent  has  been  raised 
in  the  South,  except  in  the  cities  of 
Baltimore  and  Washington.  Mrs.  Whit- 
ing contemplates  undertaking  the  found- 
ing of  a  branch  in  New  Orleans,  how- 
ever, which  as  one  of  the  oldest  French 
cities  on  this  continent  ought  to  mani- 
fest interest;  but  it  is  asserted  the 
South,  partly  perhaps  because  of  the 
embargo  against  cotton  shipments,  has 
[developed  little  or  no  philanthropic  in- 
jterest  in  the  sufferings  caused  by  the 
war. 

Boston    Committee    Best. 

"Boston  has  the  best  organized  com- 
mittee," said  Mr.  Goad  last  night,  "and 
it  has  already  given  generously.  But 
the  need  for  supplies  this  winter  will 
be  greater  than  last,  and  it  is  ever 
necessary  to  discover  new  donors,  and 
new  generosity.  There  .  are  twice  as 
many  wounded  as  there  were  a  year 
ago;  and  supplies  both  of  materials  and 
money  are  more  nearly  exhausted.  Last 
year  quantities  of  old  linen,  much  of  it 
heirlooms,  was  freely  given  on  the  other 
side,  and,  of  course,  there  were  large 
stores  of  linen  and  cotton  and  all  sorts 
of  surgical  and  medical  supplies  to  be 
drawn  upon;  but  ah  are  now  used  up; 
and  since  the  Germans  have  conquered 
such  a  large  manufacturing  section  of 
France   we  cannot  draw   upon   that. 

"Purses,  everywhere,  are  slimmer, 
and  the  demands  upon  them  are  greater. 
The  United  States,  by  its  gifts  of  last 
year,  established  a  great  reputation  for 
philanthropy,  and  yet  more  appeals  must 
be  made  to  the  American  people.  The 
regular  hospitals  of  France  cannot  ac- 
commodate a  tenth  of  the  wounded  and 
all  sorts  of  buildings  have  to  be  used  as 
makeshifts. 

"The  wounded  whom  I  saw  in  October 
are  really  many  of  them  in  a  more 
pitiable  condition  than  those  whom  I 
saw  last  winter.  Then,  large  rooms 
were  set  apart  for  those  with  clean 
wounds,  while  the  smaller  rooms  were 
sufficient  for  those  with  infected 
wounds;  now  conditions  are  reversed. 

"Conditions  in  the  trenches  are  hrr- 
rible,  and  because  of  the  constantly  in- 
creasing lack  of  sanitation  wounds  are 
more    likely    to    become    septic:    and    al- 


rh  more  wounded  reach  the  base 
hospitals  since  transportation  has  been 
so  much  improved,  they  arrive  in  more 
dangerous  condition.  Even  now,  as  in  a 
case  I  saw,  a  train  of  400  wounded  may 
be  3C  hours  in  transit  over  a  distance  of 
only  40  miles. 

Truces  Almost    Unknown. 

"In  this  modern  war  truces  to  bury 
the  dead  or  rescue  the  wounded  from 
the  battlefield  are  almost  unknown,  and 
those  who  fall  lie  unsuccored,  except 
that  those  who  may  be  within  a  short 
distance  of  their  friends,  are  occasion- 
ally brought  in  at  night,  when  also  tbe 
only  possible  burials  are  accomplished. 
But  in  thousands  of  cases  bodies  have 
lain  close  to  the  lines  for  weeks  till  they 
have  putrefied  and  dropped  to  pieccr. 
Many  corpses  are  impaled  on  the  barbed 
wire  entanglements  for  long  periods, 
and  the  soldiers  have  no  other  alterna- 
tive but  to  seek  to.  shoot  them  to  pieces 
as  a  sanitary  measure. 

"The  American  people  ought  to  know 
of  the  spirit  of  France,  and  her  innu- 
merable heroes,  the  wonderful  courage 
shown  even  by  the  frightfully  mutilated. 
I  talked  with  a  professional  dancer  who 
had  lost  a  leg.  'How  can  you  now  earn 
your  livelihood?'  I  asked  him.  With  a 
smile,  he  threw  himself  over  upon  his 
hands,  and  walked  upon  them.  'Just  at 
present  I  can  get  along  fasten  this  way,* 
he  responded,  with  sublime  philosophy. 

"Another,  whose  legs  had  both  been 
amputated  at  the  thigh,  said  gaily,  when 
I  commiserated  him— 'It's  not  so  bad, 
after  all;  because  you  see  I'm  a  tailor.' 

"Another,  so  frightfully  injured  by  a 
treat  shell  that  it  was  not  believed  he 
would  live,  is  convalescent,  but  blind, 
and  has  only  his  left  arm  remaining  of 
all  his  members.  When  flowers  are 
brought  to  him  he  manifests  cheerful- 
ness, and  tells  how  much  he  enjoys  the 
faculties  of  smell  and  touch,  and  dilates 
upon  how  much  he  has  to  be  thankful 
for  inasmuch  as  the  girl  to  whom  he 
was  betrothed  insists  on  marrying  him, 
to  take  care  of  him. 

"A  doctor,  so  sick  with  appendicitis 
that  he  could  not  walk,  insisted  on  con- 
tinuing to  perform  operations  on  the 
Wounded  for  three  weeks,  because  there 
were  not  enough  surgeons,  and  some  of 
the  soldiers  would  otherwise  have  died 
The  doctor  himself  had  to  be  brought  in 
on  a  stretcher,  and  the  operation  which 
he  himself  so  badly  needed  was  so  long 
delayed  that  when  I  left  it  was  uncer- 
tain whether  he  would  live  or  die. 

Mask    Hid    Disfigurement. 
"Frightful  disfigurements  are  common. 
In  one  case,  an  officer,  of  excellent  fam- 


ily,  was  totally  blinded  by  a  shell,  and 
his  face  was  so  mutilated  that  he  has 
to  wear  a  mask.  His  mother  took  him 
to  a  quiet  country-place,  intending  to 
devote  the  remainder  of  her  life  to 
caring  for  him  as  though  he  were  a 
baby;  but  soon  her  health  began  to 
fail,  and  her  physician  was  obliged  to 
inform  the  officer  that  his  mother  was 
in  danger  of  losing  her  mind;  no 
mother  and  son  had  to  be  separated. 
The  shock  of  such  dreadful  disfigure- 
ments is  sometimes  too  much  for  even 
devoted  mothers." 

Mr.  Goad  added  that  the  French 
refugees  from  the  northern  sections  of 
France,  now  fceing  allowed  by  the 
Germans  to  return,  through  Switzerland 
to  within  the  lines  of  the  allies,  are 
coming  back  in  such  poverty-stricken 
condition  that  they  are  imposing  new 
burdens. 

Mrs.  Jasper  Whiting  remarked  that 
although  in  some  instances  contribu- 
tions are  begrudged  when  it  is  known 
that  some  of  the  German  wounded  are 
benefitted  by  the  American  donations, 
yet  the,  fact  ought  to  be  made  plain 
that  the  German  wounded  in  the  French 
hospitals  are  not  refused  such,  .benefits. 


EosiTow,  YW 


a^SS 


3 


-ran  >  c  m, 


MIRACILOIS     CURES 


The  case  of  the  blind  Canadian  pri- 
vate whose  sight  w ■****&&§**&  miracu- 
lously through  the  shock  of  being 
thrown  into  the  sea  from  the  torpedoed 
liner  Hesperian  is  but  one  of  many  start- 
ling cases  of  marvellous  recoveries  which 
have    occurred    during    the    war. 

A  few  months  ago  an  entertainer  was 
giving  a  performance  before  wounded 
soldiers  in  a  Bristol  hospital  when  Cor- 
poral Stevens,  of  the  2nd  King's  Royal 
Rifles,  who  had  been  rendered  deaf  and 
dumb  in  Flanders,  suddenly  burst  into 
loud  laugh •i»r,  and  to  the  amazemei 
doctors  and  nurses  showed  that  he  had 
miraculously  recovered  his  speech  ami 
hearing. 

In   another   case    a    man    who    had   been 
rendered    deaf    and      dumb    through      the 
bursting  of  a  shell  at  Mons  suddenly 
covered  speech  through  the  pain  brought 
about  by  placing  his  hand  on  a  hot-v 
pipe   in    the   corridor   of  the   Queen   All  x- 
andra  Military  Hospital  at  Millbank 
the        same         hospital         L 


Fowkes  of  the  Eighteenth  Hussars,  who 
was  rendered  blind  at  Mons,  and  whose 
case  was  regarded  as  hopeless  by  the 
surgeons,  received  special  X-Ray  treat- 
ment with  the  result  that  he  regained 
his  sight. 

Recently,  Corporal  Leonard,  who  was 
bereft  of  hearing  and  speech,  went  to 
a  cinema  show  at  Liverpool.  As  the  film 
revealed  the  antics  of  the  well-known 
comedian  Billie  Ritchie,  the  risible  facul- 
ties of  the  soldier  were  touched.  He 
felt  a  burning  in  his  throat  and  a  pain- 
ful drumming  in  his  ears,  which  seemed 
about  to  burst.  Then,  to  his  agreeable 
surprise,  he  heard  a  shout  and  found  that 
it  was  his  own  voice.   [Tit-Bits 


American  Girl's  Work  for  thqjjjind 
Wins  Her  Distinction  in  Paris. 


&KDVP  Or  BUND  SOl&lX.JLS'- 


An  American  girl,  Miss  Winifred 
Holt,  is  being  hailed  in  Paris  as  one 
of  the  most  practical  of  the  many 
benefactors  of  mankind  that  have 
risen  to  prominence  since  the  war 
'started.  Miss  Holt  has  been  instru- 
mental-m  the  establishment  of  the 
Hotel  du'Phare  and  the  Phare.  which 
are  being  used  for  the  care  of  soldiers 
blinded  in  warfare.  Blindnesses  one 
of  the  most  terrible  afflictions  suf- 
fered by  the  soldiers,  and  the  treat- 
ment accorded  them,  not  only  to  fur- 
nish physical  relief  but  to  ameliorate 
the  attendant  mental  suffering,  must 
necessarily  be  of  a  scientific  nature 
and  based  on  years  of  experience  in 
dealing  with  such  cases.  In  hi 
ports  to  the  committee  for  men  blind- 
battle,  which  has  headquarters 
at  No.  17  East  Thirty-eighth  street. 
New  York  city,  Miss  Holt  tells  of 
many  pathetic  incidents  that  mark 
her  daiJy  routine  in  the  French  capi- 
tal among  them  being  the  dramatic 
meeting  between  two  officers  who  had 
lost  their  sight.  The  victims  a 
ing    instructed    by    various    forms    of 


employment,  such  as  typewriting  and 
office  work,  and  from  their  occupa- 
tions they  gain  much  mental  relief. 
Miss  Holt  says  her  committee  is  in 
?reat  need  of  money  to  carry  on  the 
Philanthropy. 


B 


JllaAo 


>    Yl/,  W.,     Courier. 


Paris  Hails  U.  S.  Girl 
as  One  of  Mankind's 
Greatest  Benefactors 


WINIFDED  HOLT. 
Miss  Holt  has  oeen  instrumental  i 
establishment  of  the  Hotel  du  Phav 
in  Paris  and  the  Phave,  which  are  be 
ing  used  to  care  for  soldiers  hUftfiktti*} 
warfare.  She  is  hailed  in  France  a 
one  of  mankind's  greatest  benefactor: 


,  ■ 

WE 

Mi 


. 


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